Does the West know that Israel is invading Lebanon If you did why didnt you stop the Israeli aggression ?
Since October of last year, Israel and Hezbollah have been involved in a war of attrition. The Lebanese movement, foreseeing significant Israeli reprisal in Gaza following the 7 October Hamas attack, constrained Israeli military forces near the border between the two nations to support the Palestinians.
This conflict has incurred significant expenses for both parties. Israel's security and intelligence agencies have been placed on high alert, while tens of thousands of Israeli and Lebanese individuals have been displaced from their residences in the border region.
As the Gaza campaign remains unresolved—resulting in significant destruction but failing to eliminate Hamas—Israel has opted to intensify its military actions in Lebanon this month. An unusual rationale was offered to substantiate this decision: “de-escalation via escalation.”
Israel asserts that significant pressure on Hezbollah may compel the group to consent to an agreement facilitating the return of Israeli settlers to their colonies in the north, regardless of the stalemate in ceasefire negotiations over Gaza.
This would depend on terminating the link that Hezbollah formed a year ago between concluding its war of attrition and attaining a ceasefire. Hezbollah's units would also need to withdraw approximately 10 kilometers from the border.
These expectations contradict all the declarations made by Hezbollah leaders in the past 12 months.
The recent spectacular and terrorist-coordinated detonations of pagers and radios around Lebanon marked the beginning of this "de-escalatory escalation." The war has escalated due to a series of Israeli airstrikes, resulting in numerous Lebanese civilian casualties, as well as significant, if less deadly, missile and rocket assaults by Hezbollah.
The event culminated on Friday with the killing of Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, via a significant bombing operation, shocking Lebanon and the broader region while eliciting celebration in Israel.
The operation involving pagers and the decapitation of Hezbollah's leadership—many of its military officers have been slain in recent strikes—aims to restore one of Israel's primary assets that diminished during the previous year: its deterrence capability against regional adversaries.
It is premature to determine if this objective has been met, but the activities may have exerted a broader deterrent effect, extending beyond Israel's closest adversaries.
Although the Israeli government has not officially said anything to confirm such a conclusion, advocates for the Palestinian cause and global critics of Israeli policy cannot overlook the implicit message: Israel can do whatever it wants, everywhere, with impunity.
People's everyday lives, including their use of electronic gadgets, are not only vulnerable to Israel's surveillance, but the state may also use this technology to inflict bodily harm if it deems it advantageous. The impairment of Israel's deterrent capability following October 7 must now be restored internationally against all conceivable adversaries, whether military or political.
The United States and France decided to intervene in this remarkable context, where the West's close and often uncritical collaboration with Israel may potentially jeopardize the entire global digital supply chain.
A joint statement, supported by Australia, Canada, the EU, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and the UK, “for an immediate 21 day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement”, alongside the enforcement of a prior UN Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.
Ideally, such a cessation would facilitate more negotiations to avert an expanded war in Lebanon, enable displaced residents to return to their residences on both sides of the border, and revitalize prospects for a ceasefire in Gaza and a captive agreement.
Israel has rejected the international appeal for a ceasefire in Lebanon, persisting with airstrikes on Thursday and executing its most notable assassination operation in years on Friday.
Although the global effort to cease hostilities in Lebanon is commendable, it is reasonable to harbor skepticism regarding this additional endeavor in Western diplomacy.
Why, after days of bloody escalation, would the peace initiative led by Israeli American diplomat (and former Israeli soldier) Amos Hochstein succeed now, after more than a year of failed attempts to de-escalate the situation along the Israel-Lebanon border?
Hochstein successfully facilitated a maritime boundary deal between Israel and Lebanon in 2022, benefiting both parties. The present conditions are markedly different.
The notably shocking aspect this time is the alleged justification provided in claiming that diplomacy will be effective. Axios reports, citing a source with direct knowledge of the plans:
“If Hamas sees that Hezbollah gives a chance for a diplomatic solution, it could encourage [Hamas] leader Yahya Sinwar to move toward a deal.”
One might ponder the parallel universe inhabited by individuals who formulated such a justification.
The primary cause of the Gaza negotiations' failure was the deliberate sabotage by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as confirmed by his own negotiating team.
Negotiations founded on faulty beliefs and unrealistic expectations, apart from facts on the ground, typically culminate in failure.
We cannot help but recall Albert Einstein's renowned quote:
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different outcomes.”