Hezbollah responds to Israeli attacks more forcefully, but it does not completely remove its gloves.
Hezbollah responds to Israeli
Even while Hezbollah declared it would “fight without limitations” against Israel, its reaction to consecutive Israeli strikes seems well-planned.
Its strike, intercepted on Wednesday near Tel Aviv, was both unusual and subdued. It was a day of firsts for several reasons: first, Hezbollah fired what it claimed to be a ballistic missile at Israel; second, it was the first time a missile had traveled from Lebanon to a location close to Tel Aviv; and third, the militant group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, fulfilled his pledge to retaliate against Israeli strikes on Beirut by launching Hezbollah’s own missiles towards Tel Aviv.
However, a single missile, even a ballistic one, was always going to have been shot down due to the effectiveness of Israel’s air defenses.
So why only launch one? The single shot on Tel Aviv may be interpreted as a cease-and-desist order as the likelihood of full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as their respective supporters in Iran and the United States, increases daily.
Do not attempt us; we have strong weapons at our disposal and a strong ally at our disposal, Hezbollah appeared to be saying.
Although the militant organization still possesses a variety of medium- and long-range missiles in its arsenal, Wednesday’s hit seemed to be a hint of the kind of punch it could deliver.
Hezbollah is responding to a concerted Israeli attempt to get the armed organization to stop firing at Israel’s northernmost area every day, and this strike is the most recent rung in its carefully orchestrated escalation.
It is important to keep in mind how we got here. After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Hezbollah decided to fight back in support of the Palestinians in Gaza. It has managed to keep Israel at bay thus far. It had mostly restricted its engagement to almost daily cross-border strikes until last week, when the Israeli military returned.
Although almost 60,000 Israelis were forced to evacuate their homes in the country’s north due to the strikes, the death toll was comparatively modest. As part of the cross-fire, Israeli strikes also emptied the Lebanese side of the border, killing close to 100,000 people.
However, after 12 Druze children were killed by a rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, things started to get out of hand. Although Hezbollah has “firmly” denied being behind the incident, Israel has accused the organization of firing the rocket, which originated in the direction of Lebanon.
However, for Israeli officials, things had gotten too bad.
Encouraged by bellicose allies on the far right
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started to switch his focus from fighting Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel has been fighting in Gaza for nearly a year with the dual objectives of eliminating Hamas and freeing the captives it had kidnapped.
Israel announced a new goal on September 16: to guarantee the safe return of citizens living near the border with Lebanon to their houses.
The following day, hundreds of Hezbollah terrorists’ pagers detonated all over Lebanon. Hezbollah walkie-talkies blew up also the next day.
The pair of assaults dealt a devastating blow to the group, leaving thousands injured and dozens dead.
Israel’s spy agency. Israel has not taken credit for the assaults.
Hezbollah responds to Israeli
It killed its leader Ibrahim Aqil and other high-ranking members of Hezbollah when it launched an airstrike on a multi-story.
Building in a Beirut suburb where a group of the organization’s elite Radwan Force had convened the following day.
Ibrahim Qubaisi, another top figure in charge of Hezbollah’s missile units, was killed in another airstrike this week.
It is important to keep in mind how we got here. After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Hezbollah decided to fight back in support of the Palestinians in Gaza. It has managed to keep Israel at bay thus far. It had mostly restricted its engagement to almost daily cross-border strikes until last week, when the Israeli military returned.
Although almost 60,000 Israelis were forced to evacuate their homes in the country’s north due to the strikes.
The death toll was comparatively modest..
As part of the cross-fire, Israeli strikes also emptied the Lebanese side of the border, killing close to 100,000 people.
However, after 12 Druze children were killed by a rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, things started to get out of hand.
Although Hezbollah has “firmly” denied being behind the incident.
Israel has accused the organization of firing the rocket, which originated in the direction of Lebanon.
However, for Israeli officials, things had gotten too bad.
Encouraged by bellicose allies on the far right, ..
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started to switch his focus from fighting Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel has been fighting in Gaza for nearly a year with the dual objectives of eliminating Hamas and freeing the captives it had kidnapped.
Israel announced a new goal on September 16: to guarantee the safe return of citizens living near the border with Lebanon to their houses.
The following day, hundreds of Hezbollah terrorists’ pagers detonated all over Lebanon. Hezbollah walkie-talkies blew up also the next day. The pair of assaults dealt a devastating blow to the group, leaving thousands injured and dozens dead.
Israel persisted with its attacks.
It killed its leader Ibrahim Aqil and other high-ranking members of Hezbollah when it launched an airstrike on a multi-story building in.
A Beirut suburb where a group of the organization’s elite Radwan Force had convened the following day.
Ibrahim Qubaisi, another top figure in charge of Hezbollah’s missile units, was killed in another airstrike this week.
It declared that it fired the ballistic missile on Wednesday in “protection of Lebanon and its people”—a clear admission.
That it is currently fighting for its own territory—and in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
Although neither side has officially declared war on the other, their increasingly ambitious objectives may render such declarations meaningless.
Hezbollah maintains that unless there is a ceasefire in Gaza, there will be none in Lebanon. In addition to its insistence that there will not be a ceasefire in Gaza,
Netanyahu’s administration has made peace in Lebanon increasingly improbable.
From here, where do both parties go? There is not much room for anyone to retreat.
Many Lebanese citizens are not waiting to find out if foreign calls to reduce the tensions would be successful. Up to 500,000 people have been displaced by Israel’s attack, according to Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.
As more Lebanese travel even further north and foreign embassies urge their residents to leave the country.
Beirut’s streets are becoming deserted.
The escalating armed war is further depressing Lebanon’s already weary populace after years of strife.
For individuals experiencing widespread shelling and dislocation.
The fact that neither Hezbollah nor the Lebanese authorities have referred to this as a war is not particularly comforting.
