The High Stakes of Israel’s Looming War with Hezbollah

The world is bracing for war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-sponsored Shiite jihadist group, which has been firing at Israel from Lebanon since the day after Hamas’s horrific attack on October 7. Since the Hamas-perpetrated massacre, Hezbollah has fired more than 7,500 rockets into Israel, resulting in appalling tragedies like the attack on the Druze town Majdal Shams, which killed twelve children on a soccer field. The Biden administration has focused thus far on averting “escalation” in the region, which manifests as U.S. pressure against decisive Israeli military action to counter Hezbollah. But as the terrorist group continues to launch aggressive rocket and suicide –drone attacks, killing dozens of Israeli soldiers and displacing over 60,000 civilians from their homes in the north, Israel may be left with no other option than to act militarily. The United States must come to terms with the facts: Hezbollah’s goal is to destroy the State of Israel. Each step that Hezbollah takes toward this goal threatens American national-security interests.

Rather than retaliatory, tit-for-tat strikes targeting individual terrorists, Israel may have to launch a full-scale military campaign to degrade Hezbollah. The scale of a war between Israel and the militant group will be larger than the conflict with Hamas and is likely to rival previous regional conflicts the IDF has fought since the 2006 Lebanon War. Major Israeli cities would likely come under fire from Hezbollah’s massive rocket arsenal, while Israeli air attacks would devastate southern Lebanon. Both the Lebanese people, who are at the mercy of Hezbollah as the country’s de facto government, and Israelis would suffer greatly. If war between Israel and Hezbollah erupts, however, it would benefit America for Israel to prevail and for Hezbollah to be seriously depleted as a result.

KS

About the Author

Kyle Sajoyan

Kyle Sajoyan lives in Washington, D.C., and recently completed the Tikvah Beren Summer Fellowship.

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The world is bracing for war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-sponsored Shiite jihadist group, which has been firing at Israel from Lebanon since the day after Hamas’s horrific attack on October 7. Since the Hamas-perpetrated massacre, Hezbollah has fired more than 7,500 rockets into Israel, resulting in appalling tragedies like the attack on the Druze town Majdal Shams, which killed twelve children on a soccer field. The Biden administration has focused thus far on averting “escalation” in the region, which manifests as U.S. pressure against decisive Israeli military action to counter Hezbollah. But as the terrorist group continues to launch aggressive rocket and suicide –drone attacks, killing dozens of Israeli soldiers and displacing over 60,000 civilians from their homes in the north, Israel may be left with no other option than to act militarily. The United States must come to terms with the facts: Hezbollah’s goal is to destroy the State of Israel. Each step that Hezbollah takes toward this goal threatens American national-security interests.

Rather than retaliatory, tit-for-tat strikes targeting individual terrorists, Israel may have to launch a full-scale military campaign to degrade Hezbollah. The scale of a war between Israel and the militant group will be larger than the conflict with Hamas and is likely to rival previous regional conflicts the IDF has fought since the 2006 Lebanon War. Major Israeli cities would likely come under fire from Hezbollah’s massive rocket arsenal, while Israeli air attacks would devastate southern Lebanon. Both the Lebanese people, who are at the mercy of Hezbollah as the country’s de facto government, and Israelis would suffer greatly. If war between Israel and Hezbollah erupts, however, it would benefit America for Israel to prevail and for Hezbollah to be seriously depleted as a result.