War with Hezbollah

Amid all the recent attacks by Israel against Hezbollah operatives, I've seen news headlines saying that Israel is dangerously escalating the conflict. But let's remember how this conflict started.

On 8 October 2023, Hezbollah started firing guided rockets and artillery shells at Israeli positions in the occupied Shebaa Farms, which it said was in solidarity with Palestinians following the Hamas attack on Israel that took place a day earlier ....

In northern Israel, the ongoing conflict has forced approximately 96,000 individuals to leave their homes, while in Lebanon, approximately 111,940 individuals have been displaced,[59][54] with Hezbollah saying it would not stop attacks against Israel until it stops its attacks and military operations in Gaza ...- Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present)

One of the more newsworthy recent strikes by Israel on Hezbollah was the killing of Ibrahim Aqil ...

In the 1980s, Aqil was a senior member in Hezbollah's cell responsible for the 1983 US embassy bombing and the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings. On 21 July 2015, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Aqil under Executive Order 13582 for his role in Hezbollah. In September 2019, the U.S. Department of State listed him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The Rewards for Justice Program offered a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to his capture ...

The bombing of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings killed 307 people: 241 U.S. and 58 French military personnel, six civilians, and two attackers.

On hearing of Israel's killing of Aqil, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said, according to Reuters, "Any time a terrorist who has murdered Americans is brought to justice, we believe that that is a good outcome.”

Despite the recent attacks by Israel against Hezbollah, I don't think Israel wants to escalate the conflict. In fact I think these strikes are meant to do the opposite. Here's an op-ed by Lazar Berman in The Times of Israel: String of IDF successes might cause Nasrallah to back down, but won’t lead to victory

For more about the killing of Aqil and the continuing conflict, listen to the daily briefing at the top of the post.