Israel Strikes Lebanon as Hezbollah Fires Rockets
Israel Strikes Lebanon as Hezbollah Fires Rockets
The Facts
Israel launched a series of airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday, claiming it to be a pre-emptive attack on Hezbollah. The Lebanese militant group later fired hundreds of rockets and drones into northern Israel, reportedly in response to the killing of commander Fuad Shukr in July.
The Israeli military claimed Hezbollah intended to launch projectiles at central Israel, but some 100 Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck Hezbollah rocket launchers and targets that "posed an imminent threat to the citizens of the State of Israel" in Lebanon "to remove the threat."
The Spin
This war is based on the right of existence of Jewish people and the state of Israel. The IDF operated in self-defense from Hezbollah as it was planning to attack Israeli civilians. While the country doesn't seek a full-scale war, it will do everything to protect its people and territory. Israel's war in Gaza will continue until Hamas is rooted out of the coastal territory.
Israel has tried to build a narrative that its war against Hamas is based on its right to self-defense. However, Israel doesn't have the right to use force on territory on which the Palestinians are entitled to exercise their right of self-determination. It's not Hezbollah's military targets on an aggressor, but Israel's indiscriminate attacks on civilians that risk drawing the whole region into a full-blown war.
This dangerous conflict is threatening to expand and spiral out of control. While Hezbollah's ongoing aggression risks dragging the people of Lebanon into a broader escalation, any significant escalation in the fighting could morph into a regional conflagration drawing Hezbollah's backer, Iran, and Israel's ally, the US. The international community must end the bloodshed in Gaza immediately.
