It’s been known for a long time that Israel must degrade Hezbollah’s forces in Lebanon, because the Iran proxy is determined to destroy Israel. And although much of the world mouths sentiments about supporting Israel’s need to defend itself, when Israel actually does so it is accused of crimes it is not committing. It seems much of the world considers Israel’s self-defense to be a crime.

But Israelis have a stubborn desire to not be murdered or tortured or taken hostage by the enemies who surround it. And so, with the pager attacks a few days ago, the larger – and inevitable – attack on Hezbollah has begun. Talks will not deter either Iran (the country behind Hezbollah) or Hezbollah itself from action to destroy Israel, and that’s why this is necessary.

Hezbollah’s forces make Gaza look like pikers. If Hezbollah had joined in on October 7 with a large attack from the north, I think Israel would have been occupied and destroyed. That didn’t happen, and I’ve read that the reason was that Hamas jumped the gun on the attack, as it were, and Hezbollah was caught flat-footed. At any rate, here are some estimates:

According to estimates, prior to the October 7 massacre, Hezbollah had 40,000 short-range rockets able to travel up to 40 kilometers, as well as a few thousand medium-range rockets. …

Following the recent intensified strikes in Lebanon, the IDF estimates that approximately half of Hezbollah’s short- and medium-range rockets were hit.

However, Hezbollah still has a large supply of the missiles, as well as several thousand medium- and long-range rockets, as well as tens of thousand other short-range weapons which can reach up to 10 kilometers from the Israel-Lebanon border. The terror group also possesses UAVs and other types of weapons which may threaten Israel.

Over the past day, Hezbollah has fired around 200 rockets into Israeli territory. Israel, however, is assuming that if and when the terror group chooses to fire longer-range rockets, it will be able to do so.

The latest attacks by Israel involve this:

The Israel Defense Forces said it struck some 1,600 targets across Lebanon on Monday, including many homes it said housed weapons directly threatening the country, in the deadliest barrages of airstrikes since the 2006 war against Hezbollah, ratcheting up fears of a fresh outbreak of all-out conflict on the restive border.

“Fears of a fresh outbreak”? There’s been a simmering war there for a long time, and an outbreak of a larger war was inevitable. I’m no military expert, but I think it’s clear that when an enemy wants to destroy you and has the means and will to do so, war is going to break out. It’s a fantasy to think otherwise, or a self-deception. And if you don’t actually think otherwise but speak as though you do, then it’s a destructive lie.

More:

Speaking from an underground command room at military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was changing the balance of power with Hezbollah, signaling Israel would no longer play defense after months of cross-border violence.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have been displaced from their homes in northern Israel since last October by relentless Hezbollah rocket fire, and Israel’s cabinet last week designated the secure return of those residents to their homes as an official aim of the current conflict.

Most of the world doesn’t want those Israelis to return to their homes. But Israelis aren’t listening, nor should they be.

NOTE: Lebanon was once a fairly stable country where Muslims and Christians lived together in relative peace. Who destabilized it? It began with welcoming Palestinians to the country. A summary:

In 1970, the PLO attempted to overthrow a reigning monarch, King Hussein of Jordan, and following his quashing of the rebellion in what Arab historians call Black September, the PLO leadership and their troops fled from Jordan to Syria and finally Lebanon, where cross-border violence increased.

With headquarters moved to Beirut, PLO factions recruited new members from the Palestinian refugee camps. South Lebanon was nicknamed “Fatahland” due to the predominance there of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah organization. With its own army operating freely in Lebanon, the PLO had created a state within a state. By 1975, more than 300,000 Palestinian displaced persons lived in Lebanon. Aside from being used as an operation base for raids on Israel and against Israeli institutions across the world, the PLO and other Palestinian militant organizations also began a series of airplane hijack operations, targeting Israeli and international flights, carrying Israelis and Jews. The more profound effect on Lebanon was destabilization and increasing sectarian strife, which would eventually deteriorate into a full-blown civil war.

Israel intervened and drove the PLO out. Then Iran saw an opportunity and used Hezbollah to fill the power vacuum.