Orla Guerin
Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah (backed by Iran) have been trading fire across their shared border for the past nine months. If this conflict escalates to all-out war, it could dwarf the destruction in Gaza, draw in Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, spread embers around the Middle East and embroil the US. Iran itself could intervene directly.
The United Nations has warned of a “catastrophe beyond imagination”.
For now, a low-level war simmers in the summer heat, along a 120km (75 mile) stretch of border. One spark here could set the Middle East alight.
Over the lapping of the waves, and the thwack thwack of paddle games on the beach, a sound cuts through - a sudden deep boom.
Soon smoke billows from a hillside in the distance after an Israeli strike.
Around the pool in a resort hotel, a few sunbathers stand briefly to scan the horizon.
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