As the dust literally settles across southern Lebanon in the aftermath of the Israeli airstrikes, we are starting to see an answer to the question of whether this will be the escalation that leads to all-out war.

Hezbollah has declared an end to the first phase of revenge for Israel’s assassination of its most senior military commander Fuad Shukr, who masterminded the killing of 241 marines and 58 French soldiers in 1983, in Beirut last month. Its planned attack on the headquarters of Mossad and Unit 8200, Israel’s fabled military intelligence directorate, has been averted. Casualties appear to have been very limited. Jerusalem’s spy chiefs have flown to Cairo to continue the hostage negotiations, which have not been derailed.

For all Hezbollah’s insistence to the contrary, this round of violence looks like another major Israeli win. Hundreds of Hezbollah rocket launchers equipped with thousands of silos were destroyed in the dawn raid by 100 Israeli Air Force jets on 40 areas of southern Lebanon, the IDF confirmed. Not only did this bold move stop the attack in its tracks, it likely removed a future threat to some parts of Israel’s north.

In the aftermath of the attacks, Lebanese Christian opposition leader Samy Gemayel called for Hezbollah to be disarmed and control of the south of the country be handed back to the Lebanese army. This would be in line with the 2004’s UN Resolution 1559, which urged the Lebanese government to assert sovereignty over the entirety of its territory.

‘No Lebanese person will believe deceitful speeches........

© The Spectator