What Israel hopes to achieve with its Lebanon operation

As troops from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) 98th airborne division enter into Lebanon, they know that fighting Hezbollah will prove dangerous and difficult. Although Hezbollah has deteriorated after Israel’s recent attacks, its terrorists still have significant fighting capabilities. The elite IDF troops are backed by the Israeli airforce and artillery.

It’s been nearly 12 months since Hezbollah started firing missiles at Israel, forcing more than 60,000 civilians to evacuate their homes. These 12 long months of relentless bombing have destroyed buildings, caused widespread fires and killed and injured Israelis, including children. Now Israel wants to bring this to an end. Its ground manoeuvre will continue what the Israeli air force started with its bombing campaign.

Since 8 October, the Israeli government had hoped that international negotiations would lead to a diplomatic solution with Hezbollah. Israel never believed that Hezbollah would agree to disarm (as it was instructed to do under UN resolution 1701 in 2006), but it hoped that Hezbollah would agree to stop firing on Israel and move its armed forces behind the 40 kilometre line and away from Israel’s border.