From Gaza to Lebanon: Israel's war fronts become election campaign focus three years after October 7

Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi

Events marking three years since October 7, the date the Al-Aqsa Flood war began, have turned into a platform for electoral competition in Israel.

The contest continued for a second day, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister, Israel Katz.

Netanyahu, who faces a broad campaign over his failure to achieve the war’s objectives, did not hesitate to warn Israel’s enemies on seven fronts against attempting to test the country’s capabilities.

Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza were among the fronts that featured prominently in the election campaigns.

Netanyahu’s coalition parties sought to focus on Syria, claiming that continued fighting there was necessary because a Syrian individual had approached positions near Israeli army front-line barriers, while training was taking place there involving Syrian groups and others aligned with Iran and Hezbollah. The parties said those groups were seeking to establish a strong confrontation front along the Syrian border.

In Lebanon, the coalition parties claimed that Hezbollah was continuing what they described as an accumulation of strength and monitoring the Israeli army’s activities.

However, in Gaza, claims that several Hamas fighters who took part in the October 7 attack had been killed did not prove sufficient for Netanyahu, Katz or the coalition parties.

Amid the warnings concerning the seven fronts, Israel focused on Lebanon on Tuesday, arguing that the Lebanese state was seeking to ease tensions with Iran and coordinating on the matter with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to move toward a new framework for relations with Tehran.