Much has been made in news accounts over the weekend of Israel’s pullback of ground troops in Lebanon. According to the Israeli Defense Force, their troops had accomplished their objectives and it was not their intention to occupy territory. To Hezbollah it was a sign of weakness, just as Israel’s unilateral withdrawal in 2000 was also seen as weakness.
Gone is the myth of Israeli invincibility, or so we have heard. In reality, gone are the rules of engagement. If Israel was fighting a conventional foe as in 1956, 67 or 73, there would be little doubt who would emerge victorious. Today, however, Israel is fighting an enemy that hides amidst the civilian population, an enemy that attacks using human shields and encourages civilian casualties. Israel must therefore risk civilian casualties or surrender the war to Hezbollah.
Much has been made of an Israeli attack over the weekend, which killed some 60 Lebanese civilians, a tragedy to be sure, but who is really to blame? Israel for striking at enemy combatants, where they launch attacks or Hezbollah for using men, women and children as shields from which to launch their deadly attacks on Israel?
Indeed as Israel launched its raid in Southern Lebanon, Hezbollah launched 150 rockets on the same day into Israel with the expressed purpose of killing Israeli civilians, yet where is the outrage? Where is the global condemnation? The one-sided nature of this development and the coverage that follows is without question.
Israel, unlike Hezbollah, is bound by certain restraints. Israel is not free to prosecute the war to the uttermost as Hezbollah has done. While Israel fights with one hand tied behind its back, Hezbollah is able to draw on the full technological and military prowess of its backers in Syria and Iran, the real threats in this war.
Link to CTV article
