After more than two months of continuous and heaving bombings of the Hezbollah headquarters and the assassination of its high-ranking officials, Israel saw nothing other than agreeing to a ceasefire.
The Israeli battle in Lebanon
The large-scale Israeli bombardments of residential areas – mostly populated by Shi’as – were, first and foremost, aimed at provoking a revolt against Hezbollah or igniting confessional chaos within the country, like what the country witnessed during the civil war (1975-1990).
The majority of Lebanese and political leaders, as well as political factions (regardless of their political views or religion), sided with Hezbollah and quickly came to the aid of displaced persons, of whom there was more than 1.2 million. This happened despite the fact that Lebanon is suffering from serious economic problems and sanctions and that some political leaders have serious disagreements with Hezbollah.
Total failure of Netanyahu’s barbaric plans
Now the Israeli regime, of which Netanyahu stands at the helm and against whom there is an international order of arrest, has nothing to boast of in its full-scale war against Hezbollah. Its only successes were intelligence sources, high-tech fighter planes and bombs for destroying bunkers. Israel was forced to agree to a ceasefire when it realised that there are rockets and missiles aimed at Haifa and Tel Aviv, that millions of its citizens are in search of bomb shelters, that its army is suffering heavy casualties in its land invasion of southern Lebanon – even Netanyahu’s residence is not protected from attacks. The bravery of Lebanese fighters gave Israelis unpleasant and sad flashbacks of the 2006 war.
Had it not been for these reasons, the crimes of Netanyahu, who is now internationally recognised as a war criminal, would have been limitless. His war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip are open for all to see.
Will the ceasefire last?
The bold and decisive actions of the Hezbollah resistance forces forced Netanyahu to take this step. Although the truce has already been violated by the Israelis, it has entered into force, which gives the Lebanese people and Hezbollah fighters a chance to breathe. Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah deputy, stressed during an interview that Lebanon had made several amendments to the ceasefire proposal put forward by US Representative Amos Hochstein and that a cessation of hostilities was achieved on this basis. Hezbollah rejected the goals pursued by the United States, which were mainly aimed at subjugating Lebanon by trying to include Germany and Britain in the committee overseeing the ceasefire. This means countering attempts by the United States and Israel to create a buffer zone on the Lebanese-Palestinian border or even to destroy Hezbollah. The heroic operations of Hezbollah and the fearless actions of its fighters, thwarting all of Netanyahu’s plans and dreams, proved that this is impossible.
The Israeli aggression, led by the United States, has not produced any noticeable results. That is why the IDF intensified attacks on all regions of Lebanon, especially central Beirut, which was subjected to continuous attacks right until the second the truce came into force. The IDF also bombed all land crossings between Lebanon and Syria. In retaliation, Hezbollah carried out strikes on various Israeli settlements, as a result of which its missiles and drone strikes reached Tel Aviv. The resistance also attacked the residence of the Commander of the Israeli Air Force, Major General Tomer Bar. Hezbollah also launched squadrons of UAVs to attack a group of strategic military facilities in the city of Yaffa (Tel Aviv) in response to the strikes on Beirut.
Indeed, the Israeli aggression, led by the United States, ended because of a proposal that is, in fact, a duplicate of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted during the 2006 war. The procedures related to its implementation were entrusted exclusively to the Lebanese army and not to any foreign or multinational forces. It is worth noting that it was Netanyahu who initially sent the US envoy to Beirut requesting negotiations following the heroism and legendary resilience of the resistance. While Netanyahu initially dreamed of a ‘new order in the Middle East’, the US-led Israeli aggression ended with the return of displaced Lebanese to their villages, where they buried their dead and rebuilt their homes, despite all the hardships. Nevertheless, Hezbollah fighters, despite the loss of their leaders, won the war according to all Arab media.
Victor Mikhin, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (RANS)
