...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...'s border, where Israel has been engaged in near-daily festivities with Hezbollah since October 8 last year.
''Iran's strongest arm is Hezbollah in Lebanon. I have instructed the IDF (army) and all security forces to prepare to change this situation. There is no possibility that we will continue in the current situation, and we are obligated to safely return all the residents of the north to their homes,'' Netanyahu said during the weekly cabinet session, according to Israel's Channel 12.
The fighting has displaced tens of thousands of Lebanese and Israeli residents on both sides of the border and Israel has repeatedly vowed to act to return its citizens through war or diplomatic action.
The cross-border violence has killed some 614 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including 138 civilians, according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, authorities have announced the deaths of at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians.
Israel and Hezbollah had on August 25 exchanged heavy fire that briefly raised fears of an all-out war. On that day, Israel said around 100 warplanes launched
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KABOOM!...
s targeting hundreds of rocket launchers across southern Lebanon to thwart an imminent Hezbollah attack. Hezbollah for its part said it launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israeli military and security bases, including at a key intelligence base in Tel Aviv's suburbs.
Hezbollah called the attack a response to the killing of one of its top commanders, Fouad Shukur, in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs in July.
The August 25 exchange of fire did not set off a long-feared war, and the heavy firepower and lack of civilian casualties allowed both sides to claim a sort of victory and step back. But tensions remain high.