NEW YORK, September 25. /TASS/. Israel achieved multiple short-term goals in its strikes on Hezbollah during the last week, The New York Times (NYT) said citing senior Israeli officials.

When short-term goals have been achieved, there was no clear further strategy, they said. The officials pointed out the escalation of attacks on Hezbollah targets reflects the opinion of hawkish Israeli officials.

In addition, it is reported that the decision to escalate was met with strong opposition from some senior officials in Israel. They worried that such actions could lead to all-out war.

A new spiral of escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has unfolded since numerous explosions of communications devices swept across Lebanon on September 17 and 18. The Lebanese group blamed Israel for the incidents. Israel did not comment directly on the device detonations, but announced it was intensifying military operations in the north. Afterward, the Israeli Air Force began to carry out massive strikes on southern Lebanon, just across the northern border, and also attacked Beirut. On September 24, Lebanon’s Acting Health Minister Firass Abiad said that the death toll from Israeli air strikes on southern populated localities had risen to 569, while more than 1,800 other people sustained injuries.