Israeli air strikes killed 274 people, including 21 children, in Lebanon on Monday, the Lebanese health minister said, in by far the deadliest cross-border escalation since war erupted in Gaza on October 7. War began when Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out the worst-ever attack on Israel, with Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups around the region drawn into the violence. West Asia strategist, Dr Waiel Awwad, explains the impact of the wider war in the region on global politics.