This video shows Hizb’allah firing multiple rockets at northern Israel from the southern Lebanon village of Qana, as well as storing its arms in buildings and houses in that community. When Israel hits these villages with intense airstrikes, it is not out of aggression, but self defense. Israel, like every other nation, has the right to return fire on the origin of fire against its own civilians.

If and when Lebanese civilians lose their lives as a result of this series of events, their blood is first and foremost on Hizb’allah’s hands, for obvious reasons. After Hizb’allah, the civilians themselves are most responsible for their own deaths for not leaving the area despite being warned by Israel for days prior to the airstrikes to do so.

Israel may regret these civilian deaths, but it bears no responsibility whatsoever for collateral damage incurred during defense strikes against the origin of fire on its sovereign territory.

Despite strong speeches by its leaders and what appeared to be an initial recognition of the necessity for outright victory against Hizb’allah, Israel now appears unable to do what is needed to actually achieve that goal.

Ha’aretz correspondent Ze’ev Schiff warns that if the IDF and political echelon do not get on the same page soon and implement a strong and unified battle plan, the conflict with Hizb’allah will turn into a war of attrition, bringing the Galilee region to its knees.

IDF Northern Command says it has a plan for victory, but it seems the Olmert government, which insists on approving every small step in this war before it is taken, has delayed implementation of the winning strategy as it looks over its shoulder to see what the international community is saying.

Cabinet meetings are turning into endless debates with no decisions taken the longer this fight drags on, putting victory further out of reach every day.

It doesn’t matter how many Hizb’allah men Israel kills or how many of the terrorists’ rockets are destroyed. Hizb’allah can recruit more willing fighters, and Iran and Syria will gladly supply more arms. All Hizb’allah has to do to win this fight is survive and demonstrate an ability to continue threatening northern Israel when all is said and done.

The burden of proof, therefore, is on Israel. Will Israel deal Hizb’allah and its sponsors such a harsh blow that despite the ability to recruit more men and obtain more weapons the group would never dare to use them again? Or will ultimate victory elude Jerusalem, leading to an irreversible tarnishing of the IDF’s image has the region’s mightiest military force and the deterrence that perception so long provided against Muslim aggression?

Israel needs to wake up and declare war on the nation of Lebanon, rather than focus its military efforts solely on the Hizb’allah terrorist organization. The reasons are many, but the more important ones include the fact that successive Lebanese governments, including the current democratically-elected one, have allowed Hizb’allah to arm, flourish, take control of parts of the country and launch attacks on a neighboring state.

Lebanon is still officially in a state of war with Israel, and according to comments by Lebanon’s president and official statements by its armed forces, Hizb’allah is an invaluable strategic asset in that war. Continue reading »

Israel’s ability to deter Muslim terrorist aggression against its people is on the line in a big way in southern Lebanon. If Hizb’allah survives its fight with Israel, terrorists everywhere will get the message that they can hit the Jewish state hard without fear of suffering annihilation in response. They will understand that Israel will never be allowed to do to them what America is doing to Al Qaeda and its allies.

Eli Hertz summarizes the issue well:

“Unfortunately, Israel’s power of deterrent against ‘low signature’ guerrilla warfare that uses Palestinian civilians as shelter and terrorism as a political weapon has been diminished by a host of factors, external and internal: Israel’s isolation in the international arena (and apologists for Arab terrorism abroad and at home) are interpreted as an ‘insurance policy’ that Israel’s hands will be tied or partially tied in its response.

“In addition, despotic leaders’ misunderstand democratic debate and Israeli society’s genuine strengths and weaknesses and they misread limitations on the use of force stemming from Israel’s Jewish and democratic ethos. Well-intentioned policy decisions Israel has taken to defuse conflict and avoid friction have ‘boomeranged’ - perceived as cowering feeble-heartedness, undermining Israel’s power of deterrent.”

No one likes to see innocent civilians suffer, especially those who are held hostage by and oppose the actions of the terrorists in their midst. But if Israel does not put aside all other concerns and smash Hizb’allah now, this particular battle is just going to continue repeating itself, ultimately at the cost of far more civilian lives on both sides.

Washington has been firm in its support of Israel’s war against Hizb’allah, but has also pressed Israel hard to take great care to not harm or topple Lebanon’s current government.

The Bush administration argues that a lot of effort went into ejecting Syria from Lebanon and getting this democratically-elected government in place.

That may be so, but if the government of Lebanese PM Fuad Siniora is unable or unwilling to govern in an effective manner that safeguards the well-being of both Lebanon’s and Israel’s citizens, then why in the world should Israel care about preserving it? Continue reading »

If you play with fire, you are going to get burned:

Hizb’allah expected business as usual, got war

Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Beri Monday demonstrated precisely why Israel’s offensive against Hizb’allah must continue unabated for the time being. Continue reading »

The Association for Civil Rights (ACR) - your typical liberal everything-is-Israel’s-fault human rights organization - got all worked up Monday after IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said every Hizb’allah missile barrage on Haifa would be met with a similar IDF bombing of southern Beirut.

I thought the international community wanted Israel to react in a “proportionate” manner? What could be more proportionate than doing to your enemy exactly what he has done to you? Continue reading »

United Nations chief Kofi Annan, who consequently has a dismal record of conflict resolution, announced Thursday his plan for ending the fighting between Israel and Hizb’allah.

An immediate and simultaneous cessation of hostilities by both sides, the transfer of Israel’s abducted soldiers to the Lebanese army, and the creation of yet another toothless international committee tasked with overseeing the disarmament of Hizb’allah - and everything should be right as rain.

Just one problem: those terms are inconsistent with Hizb’allah’s present objectives and strategic goals. Continue reading »

There is a very important lesson regarding the “land-for-peace” process that Israel must learn from the current battle with Hizb’allah.

Hizb’allah’s raison d’etre - at least as far as the world was concerned - was Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon. But six years ago, Israel withdrew from every square inch of Lebanon, as demanded by the international community.

And yet, Hizb’allah remains, and is causing more trouble today than ever before.

That is because Hizb’allah’s true raison d’etre, according to its own covenant and statements, is the annihilation of the Jewish state.

The same is true not only for more “radical” groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but also for Fatah and the entire PLO, which were established for the “liberation of Palestine.”

It is telling to watch the reaction of the Palestinian Arabs as Hizb’allah assaults their Israeli “peace” partners. While the entire Arab world outside of Syria is criticizing Hizb’allah, the “Palestinians” are cheering on the Lebanese terrorists.

They are not, as one would expect of participants in their own land-for-peace process, urging Hizb’allah to halt its aggression now that it has achieved its initial territorial demands. No, the “Palestinians” are actually hollering for Hizb’allah to hurry up and start lobbing missiles into Tel Aviv.

The “Palestinians” are demonstrating that even if they are given 100% of Judea, Samaria and Gaza - including eastern Jerusalem - they are as likely as not to follow the lead of their Hizb’allah role models and find a reason (the very existence of Israel) to fight on.