Is Israel justified to act against Hezbollah? - opinion

Hezbollah is a terrorist army that violates international law and threatens millions of Israeli lives. If the international community will not act, Israel would be fully justified to act. As the war against Hamas in Gaza drags on, the eyes of Israel’s citizens and the international community are drawn to Israel’s northern border.

Lebanon’s terrorist army, Hezbollah, has been attacking Israel’s civilians and military since the day after the October 7 massacre. Entire Israeli communities have been evacuated and are waiting for decisive action against Hezbollah before returning home.

Israel’s moment of decision is coming ever closer.

It is currently believed that Hamas carried out its bacchanal of murder without notifying Iran and Hezbollah in advance. Israel was thus spared a disastrous double-pronged invasion of Israeli communities along its northern and southern borders simultaneously. This fact, however, highlights the existential danger posed by a Hezbollah terrorist “state within a state,” barely meters from Israeli cities.

Hezbollah currently has an arsenal of more than 200,000 rockets, many of which can reach Tel Aviv and the country’s center. Hezbollah has around 50,000 soldiers, armed and trained by Iran, many seasoned from fighting in the Syrian civil war. The Radwan special operations unit is designed to infiltrate and capture Israeli towns, repeating and amplifying the bloodbath that Hamas carried out on October 7. No state would tolerate such a situation.

Resolution 1701 has failed to restrain Hezbollah

During the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the international community tied Israel’s hands, forcing it to rely on diplomatic promises to restrain Hezbollah. After a month of fighting, in which 165 Israelis were killed and close to half a million internally displaced by Hezbollah’s rockets, the Israeli army withdrew from Lebanon based on the provisions of Security Council Resolution 1701, which was intended to usher in a new era of security. 

According to the resolution, Hezbollah was to be dismantled, the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission would ensure that southern Lebanon would be Hezbollah-free, and the international community, assisted by UNIFIL, would prevent arms from reaching Lebanon without the authorization of the Lebanese government.

Resolution 1701 has been a complete failure. The UN secretary-general reports twice every year that not only has Hezbollah not disarmed, it continues to develop its capabilities. 

Hezbollah sits far south of the Litani River, practically touching Israeli homes and communities. It continues to provoke Israel by carrying out strikes, erecting military facilities on the border, digging tunnels, and sending raiding parties into Israeli territory. Hezbollah rockets threaten millions of Israelis, hundreds of thousands cannot return home, and Hezbollah’s special operations forces are preparing to invade and murder civilians.

Israel is fully justified under international law should it choose to expand its operations against Hezbollah. In October and November of 2015, following deadly ISIS terror attacks, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2249, which designated ISIS “an unprecedented global threat” and called for “all possible means… to eliminate ISIS havens in Syria.”

The US, UK, Germany, and others justified their invasion of Iraq and Syria on those countries being “unwilling or unable” to combat the ISIS threat. Similarly, Lebanon has shown itself unwilling or unable to meet its international obligations and prevent Hezbollah from creating a mini-terrorist state on its territory. If nothing changes, Israel will be forced to act.

The events of October 7 have shown Israelis that they cannot turn a blind eye while murderous terrorist organizations arm themselves on their borders. Hamas and Hezbollah are waiting for an opportune time to strike Israel’s vulnerable civilian centers, leaving death and mayhem in their wake. 

In 2006, the international community sold Israel a useless diplomatic “solution.” Now, the international community must use all means to press Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah and push them away from the border. Should this fail, Israel will have no choice other than full-out war.

The writer is a lawyer, and a researcher in the Legal Department of the Kohelet Policy Forum.