Thousands flee their homes in southern Lebanon after a wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah positions. The attacks have killed hundreds and forced many to seek refuge in Beirut, where resources are strained. International players are working towards a ceasefire.
On the freeways that lead out of southern Lebanon , lines of traffic stretch as far as the eye can see. Families have bundled a few belongings into cars, desperately seeking refuge farther north. For almost a year, violence has been knocking at the doors of those living near the border with Israel .
Pick of the pack might have been the St Georges, which opened in 1934 and hit its stride in the 1960s as a home away from home for royalty, film stars and even spies: British double agent Kim Philby famously, if recklessly, propped up the bar there after he fled to Beirut in 1955.
But Hezbollah was far from done. In 2006, it abducted two Israeli troops from across the Blue Line. “Hezbollah had carried out its plan perfectly,” write Amos Harel andtheir 2009 account of what became a month-long war. “An effective attack on the patrol moving along the security fence that runs parallel to the border; a simultaneous decoy operation consisting of heavy shelling along the border and a decommissioning of all the observation cameras that were set up near the border.
Hezbollah’s militia seems to operate largely untroubled by the regular Lebanese army, which has yet to intervene in the current conflict. Writes Nerguizian: “No state institution – including the Lebanese Armed Forces – will openly challenge Hezbollah’s domestic credibility with its own Shiite constituency.”
But why the escalation on Israel’s part now? Analysts say there are a few reasons. Triggers might include military resources being freed up from the war in Gaza – the “intense phase” of which Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in June was winding down, adding Israel would be able to “redeploy some forces to the north” on the border with Lebanon “primarily for defensive purposes”.
Another reason for the timing of the escalation could be that Netanyahu has faced intense political pressure to secure northern Israel and return citizens displaced from their homes by the Hezbollah rocket strikes. Israeli anger spiked after Hezbollah’s rockets killed 12 children on a soccer field in July. The Israeli government this month added this aim to its war plan.
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