The Invasion of Lebanon

The Israeli military announced early Tuesday that its troops had begun crossing into southern Lebanon, saying that they would destroy Hezbollah military infrastructure in villages close to the Israel-Lebanon border.

The immediate consequence of Israel’s continued escalation in Lebanon is displacement of the civilian population on a massive scale. According to the United Nations, there are already a million people displaced from their homes because of the war that Israel is waging on Lebanon. There are now more displaced Lebanese civilians than there were during the 2006 war, and that number will only increase as the war drags on. The vast majority of the displaced have fled their homes in the last week since the start of intense Israeli bombing. The Third Lebanon War is already as destructive as the second war and it hasn’t even been two weeks yet.

It is worth remembering that Israel is escalating in Lebanon because its leaders absolutely refuse to consider a ceasefire in Gaza. The Netanyahu government has chosen more war rather than accepting an end to the fighting that might still rescue the remaining hostages. The Israeli government assassinated Nasrallah because he would not abandon the policy of supporting Gaza. In short, they chose to wage a new war because they would not end the atrocious one they have been waging for the last year.

The Israeli government presents this invasion as a “limited” one, but as many have pointed out the same was said about the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. That led to years of brutal warfare and an occupation that lasted nearly until the end of the century. The Israeli government often describes its aggressive operations as “limited” to gain support in the West, but somehow they never stay “limited.”

Akbar Shahid Ahmed spoke to a career U.S. official who said that the administration was permitting “a nihilistic regional murder spree.” That is unfortunately all too accurate. Among other things, Israeli forces recently bombed Yemen by targeting critical civilian infrastructure once again. They seem to delight in devastating the vital infrastructure of the poorest parts of the region. The Netanyahu government’s first instinct appears to be to inflict collective punishment of the civilian population of other countries.

US-supplied "bunker buster" 1-ton bombs in action.

Invading Lebanon has never gone well for Israel, but it is the people of Lebanon that will suffer the most because of the aggression of their neighbor. However much other Lebanese communities may resent Hezbollah, they are going to resent and oppose Israel even more because Israel is once again raining death and destruction on their country. Much of the rest of the world will rightly condemn Israel for what it is doing to Lebanon, and Israel’s international isolation will only deepen.

Our government has plumbed new depths of cynicism and cowardice in signing off on another invasion of Lebanon. This was supposed to be the one thing they had managed to avoid, but when push came to shove the Biden administration let the Israeli government do whatever it wanted. The same fools that have been played like fiddles for twelve months insist that they have convinced the Israeli government not to conduct a “full” invasion of Lebanon, whatever that means. When Israel expands its “limited” operation in a few weeks or months, we know that the Biden administration will come up with some new excuse for why this is just another example of Israel’s “right to self-defense.”

Israel’s aggression against Lebanon is outrageous and excessive. If our government had any sense, it would denounce the invasion and demand an immediate end to the wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Instead we will be treated to another four months of imbecilic enabling while the entire region catches on fire.

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A daily blog on foreign policy and international affairs by Daniel Larison