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Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Former Israeli PM Ehud Barak sees chances of major war with Hezbollah at 50%

The politician also said that "Israel should have stood by Ukraine more from the beginning"

BERLIN, October 20. /TASS/. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said he believes that the probability of a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah is about 50%.

Barak, who was prime minister from 1999-2001, made the statement in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, when asked whether the danger of a two-front war, with Iran and the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah entering the conflict, was significant.

"The probability of a major war between Israel and Hezbollah is about 50% I hope that it will remain at a level of smaller skirmishes - but, of course, I don't know. If a full-scale war breaks out, we are prepared. <…> If we have to fight on several fronts, we will," he said.

The politician also said that "Israel should have stood by Ukraine more from the beginning. We should be the first to stand up when a nation wants to wipe its neighbor off the map." He said it is in Russia’s "own interest in Syria to have a good relationship with Israel."

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7. Hamas regards the attack as a response to Israeli actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel has declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and has started delivering strikes on that area and parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.

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Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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FACTBOX: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s biography

Since June 12, 2013, Putin has been the leader of the non-governmental movement All-Russia People’s Front, created at his initiative as a coalition of social and political forces