Mohanad Hage Ali
During the past month, Israel has surprised Hezbollah—along with Iran, its sponsor, and the rest of the world—with several high-profile intelligence and military successes. A technically sophisticated sabotage of Hezbollah’s pagers and walkie-talkies enabled Israel to cripple the organization’s communications network. What’s more, Israel claims that its airstrikes have destroyed a significant portion of Hezbollah’s missile stockpiles, which had been intended to deter another destructive cross-border war. And perhaps most consequentially, a broad Israeli assassination campaign has wiped out much of Hezbollah’s senior leadership, including its popular and charismatic leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel’s tactical accomplishments in Lebanon have been widely acknowledged. Yet many observers have been puzzled by the absence of any practical Israeli plan for ending the conflict, particularly one that might lead to a lasting political settlement. The apparent disjunction between means and ends is especially notable given the steep toll that Israel’s recent military successes have exacted on Lebanon’s Shiite communities. Much as Israel’s efforts to eliminate Hamas have been ruinous for Palestinian civilians in Gaza, Israel appears to be conducting its operations in Lebanon with little concern for the harm to civilian populations or infrastructure. Entire Shiite towns and neighborhoods have been destroyed, and according to the Lebanese health ministry, 127 children and 261 women were killed during the first five weeks of the recent Israeli campaign. In Lebanon as in Gaza—albeit on a lesser scale, so far—Israel appears to have settled on a strategy of collective punishment that holds civilian populations responsible for the actions of the militant groups that operate in their midst.
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