The Israeli war in Lebanon is ongoing, with military operations shifting from region to region. In the latest incident, an Israeli strike on Thursday killed a Hezbollah member and two Syrian workers between Mais al-Jabal and Blida in the Marjayoun district.
These operations continue while the five-member UN committee monitoring the ceasefire and Resolution 1701 remains conspicuously silent.
That silence may indicate tacit approval of Israel’s actions. Lebanon’s official demand that Israel withdraw from five points it has seized in southern Lebanon is receiving little international attention and doesn’t seem to trouble Washington, which leads the monitoring committee. On Wednesday, General Jasper Jeffers met with Lebanese leaders and UNIFIL in Beirut to introduce his successor, General Michael Lahney.
Western diplomats increasingly believe that Lebanon’s state institutions are too weak to assert control over the country. This is due to financial constraints, political fragmentation, and Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.
Dismantling Hezbollah
U.S. officials expressed cautious approval of the Lebanese army’s deployment south of the Litani River, though it has yet to fully secure the area. North of the river remains unresolved. President Joseph Aoun recently voiced support for exclusive state control over weapons but left room for keeping arms as part of “Lebanese culture.”
Israel, meanwhile, takes a harsher stance. According to an American source speaking to Al-Janoubia news site, Israel believes its presence in Lebanon will not end until Hezbollah is dismantled. That can happen either through a formal Iranian commitment to Washington to dismantle Hezbollah, or through a full-scale Israeli military campaign — air, sea, and land — targeting the Bekaa Valley and, crucially, Beirut and its southern suburbs.
The Israeli position, says the source, is based on the belief that despite heavy leadership losses, Hezbollah retains a strong political and military core that could rebuild if left intact.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has stated he will not allow Hezbollah to rearm, and may therefore escalate the conflict to include a ground invasion reaching Beirut, with amphibious and aerial landings followed by mass evacuations.
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