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A Battered and Diminished Hizbullah Accepts a Ceasefire

(New York Times) Ben Hubbard - For years, Hizbullah told the Lebanese that it alone could defend them from Israel. It boasted of powerful weapons and hardened commandos who would unleash deadly "surprises" if war broke out. And it assured its followers that a regional alliance of militias supported by Iran would jump in to support it in battle. Those myths have now been shattered. After 13 months of war, Hizbullah entered a ceasefire with Israel on Wednesday after three months of withering Israeli attacks that have thrown the organization into disarray. At the height of its power before the war, Hizbullah was perceived to be such a military threat that Israel and the U.S. feared that a war with it could devastate Israel. But as the war escalated, Israel stepped up its attacks so fast that Hizbullah found itself unable to mount a response close to what it had threatened for years. Hizbullah's presence on Israel's border also deterred Israel from attacking Iran, because of fears that Hizbullah would bombard Israel in response. That threat has been drastically reduced, depriving Iran of a key defense. "Israel can attack Iran at will and Iran cannot do the same," said Paul Salem, a Lebanon expert at the Middle East Institute.
2024-11-28 00:00:00
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