Analysis: Mideast Conflict Spreads to Lebanon
Council on Foreign Relations
July 12, 2006
Prepared by: Esther Pan and Eben Kaplan
The ongoing Mideast military conflict, initially between Israel and Palestinian militants, is escalating alarmingly. On July 12, the armed militant group Hezbollah attacked border stations on the Israeli-Lebanese border and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers from the Israel-Lebanon border (NYT). Israel responded by sending Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) troops into Lebanon for the first time since withdrawing from southern Lebanon in 2000. At least three Israeli soldiers were reported killed in the action.
The Hezbollah attack came during an already tense time, as Israel broadens its military offensive into the Gaza Strip to search for a soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, seized by Hamas gunmen two weeks ago. Abducting Israeli soldiers is a longtime Hezbollah strategy (Ynet) endorsed by Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. Haaretz calls the border attack "an impressive military achievement for Hezbollah and a ringing failure for the IDF." Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he held the Lebanese government responsible for the attacks, and Israeli defense officials threatened to destroy Lebanon's infrastructure if the soldiers are not returned safely (Ynet). IDF troops have already destroyed three Lebanese bridges and hit more than a dozen other targets in airstrikes (JPost).
But how much control the Lebanese government has over Hezbollah is an open question. Karim Makdisi of the American University of Beirut says in this interview that Lebanese political leaders are too weak and disorganized to take the country forward.
Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.
Copyright 2006 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.
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