JERUSALEM: Hezbollah, acting as an Iranian proxy, launched approximately 200 missiles and drones against the Jewish state throughout the night and into Thursday, which Israeli media characterized as a coordinated joint assault by Hezbollah and Iran.
These attacks triggered intense counterstrikes by the Israeli Defense Forces targeting Hezbollah’s strongholds located in the suburbs of Beirut.
The Israel Defense Forces issued a statement saying, “The IDF is operating with determination against the Hezbollah terrorist organization following its deliberate decision to attack Israel on behalf of the Iranian regime. The IDF will not tolerate any harm to Israeli civilians and will forcibly respond against any threat posed to the State of Israel.”
The terror group designated its new operation as “Eaten Straw” and asserted that it had struck Israeli military installations in the Tel Aviv suburbs, along with other objectives.
Matthew Levitt, a prominent Hezbollah expert at the Washington Institute, explained the meaning of Eaten Straw. “The term originates from a Koran verse concerning the destruction of one’s enemies to the extent that they are pulverized like straw husks. In reality, this will provoke a substantial Israeli retaliation.”
Only days before Wednesday’s attacks, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Hezbollah of driving Lebanon toward becoming “a second Gaza.”
Sarit Zehavi, an Israeli security specialist from the Israel Alma Research and Education Center, told Digital, “I believe Hezbollah is attempting to intimidate Israel from conducting additional operations, and I sincerely hope we will not be deterred, and that our government will take necessary action.”
The Lebanese armed forces also did not meet President Trump’s deadline to disarm the Hezbollah terrorist organization in 2025.
On Tuesday, the Lebanese government expressed interest in direct negotiations with Israel to resolve the ongoing conflict with Hezbollah; however, an Israeli official stated that Beirut was not “influencing Hezbollah’s conduct in any manner,” according to a Times of Israel report citing news site Y-Net.
Addressing members of the United Nations Security Council in New York on Wednesday, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon stated, “Lebanon currently confronts two choices: either the Lebanese government implements concrete measures to control Hezbollah, or Israel employs its military power to dismantle this terrorist organization. There is no alternative.”
Edy Cohen, an Israeli scholar of Lebanese origin specializing in Hezbollah, rejected the Lebanese government’s diplomatic approaches to Israel as mere political posturing. He cited the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, which ended with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 mandating the Lebanese state and military to disarm Hezbollah, as an unsuccessful endeavor.
Cohen told Digital: “I do not trust the Lebanese government. This is a maneuver between them and Hezbollah. The Lebanese proposed, for the first time since 1982, to engage in dialogue with Israel. The primary condition is a ceasefire. Hezbollah instructed the Lebanese government to present this offer to the Israelis. Hezbollah desires to halt this war. This demonstrates how the Lebanese government mocks us.”
During a United Nations Security Council meeting on Wednesday, Lebanese Ambassador Ahmad Arafa informed the council, “The Lebanese populace does not desire war, and the Lebanese government is proceeding with executing its decisions and will not retreat,” as reported by The National.
According to The National’s report, Arafa stated, “In our contemporary history, no Lebanese government has shown such bravery and resolve to restore state authority, to limit weapons to legitimate state institutions, and to expand state control exclusively through its own forces across all Lebanese territory.”
An Israeli official told the Times of Israel that “The Lebanese government must take control of their nation, otherwise Hezbollah-controlled areas of Beirut will shortly resemble Gaza.”