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Israel's Unfinished Business in Lebanon
(Tablet) Eyal Zisser - Hizbullah is again firing rockets at Israel. Israel retaliated immediately with a wave of targeted strikes and has now begun limited ground operations in south Lebanon. For Israel, Hizbullah is unfinished business. By the end of 2024, Hizbullah was at a low point after the blows Israel inflicted on it during the war that began in Oct. 2023, culminating in the elimination of nearly its entire top echelon and in the loss of an essential logistical and financial lifeline with the collapse of Assad's regime in Syria in Dec. 2024. Yet in Nov. 2024, under American pressure and amid a desire to prioritize other arenas, Israel was forced to accept a ceasefire. In doing so, it granted Hizbullah a lifeline - one it used to regroup and rebuild. Hizbullah's disarmament will not result from persuasion or internal Lebanese pressure. As in the case of Iran, the issue is not the terms of negotiation, but the continued existence of a heavily armed militia operating outside state control. Hizbullah will not voluntarily relinquish its weapons. What is needed is a decisive military campaign that will lead to its defeat. The writer is a lecturer in the Middle East History Department at Tel Aviv University.