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Everything you need to know about the conflict between Israel and Lebanon – explainer
Israel has long experienced strife with its neighbors, and the country of Lebanon is no exception.
The two countries have fought multiple conflicts, and tensions have always remained high along the border. And in recent months, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas War, experts fear a dangerous escalation between the two countries seems more likely.
But what is the Israel-Lebanon conflict? How did it start? Who are the key players involved?
Here is everything you need to know.Where is Israel?
Israel is a country in the Middle East, specifically in the Levant region. It is steeped in thousands of years of history and has been the home of numerous civilizations and religious faiths.
Israel is bordered by Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the Palestinian territories and is on the coast of both the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
While most countries consider Tel Aviv its capital, Israel and a few other countries, such as the United States, recognize Jerusalem as the capital. Its largest city in the North is Haifa.
Israel also has control over a region known as the Golan Heights, which borders Syria and Lebanon. Israel formally annexed the territory, and its sovereignty was recognized by the US, but other countries only see it as occupied territory.
Where is Lebanon?
Lebanon is an Arab country in the Middle East bordered only by Israel and Syria. Its coastline is along the Mediterranean Sea, and the island nation of Cyprus is relatively close by across the sea. Lebanon’s capital city is Beirut.
Like Israel, Lebanon has a rich history going back thousands of years. It has been home to numerous religious faiths and nations throughout the ages. Most recently, it was a French colony before becoming independent in the 1940s.
How long is the Israel-Lebanon border?
The Israel-Lebanon border is an ongoing debate, and neither of the two countries involved has agreed upon it.
According to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the de facto border, around 120 kilometers long, is known as the Blue Line. It is a demarcation line separating Israel and the Golan Heights from Lebanon. However, it is considered a mere withdrawal line, not a permanent border.
Currently, several locations along this line are the subject of a dispute over sovereignty between Israel and Lebanon, including the town of Ghajar, the Shebaa Farms, and the peak of Rosh Hanikra.
A dispute also existed over the Israeli-Lebanon maritime border, specifically over control of the Kana and Karish natural gas fields, but this dispute was settled in 2022.
Why are Israel and Lebanon enemies?
This is a complicated question with considerable history attached.
Israel and Lebanon have been enemies since 1948 when Lebanon took part in the Arab attack on the nascent Jewish state in the War of Independence. Since then, they have officially been enemy states.
Relations were worsened during the Lebanese Civil War and the first Israeli-Lebanon War (see below), and the two countries don’t have ties to this day.
The issue has a lot of nuances and factors in hostile elements in Lebanon, such as Hezbollah (see below).
Why did Israel invade Lebanon in 1982?
Israel had been in conflict with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for years. The organization had taken root in southern Lebanon and had launched a series of attacks against Israel, with the IDF having launched counterattacks.
After an assassination attempt by Palestinian terrorists on Israeli ambassador Shlomo Argov, then-Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin ordered the invasion of Lebanon to wipe out the PLO.
It should be noted that many historians and records point to the Abu Nidal Organization, rather than the PLO, as being behind the assassination attempt at the behest of Iraq to spark a war in Lebanon. Still, ultimately, the stated goal of the invasion was to target the PLO and its Syrian allies.
To do this, Israel allied with Maronite Christian groups such as the Lebanese Front and the Phalangists and swept into Southern Lebanon and occupied it. The result was the PLO relocating out of Lebanon and the installation of a new regime under Bachir Gemayel.
However, Israel couldn’t maintain its position in the area following Gemayel’s assassination and the Sabra and Shalita massacre, where Israel’s Phalangist allies massacred Palestinian civilians.
Why did Israel leave Lebanon?
As Israeli public opinion towards the war continued to sour and after a peace treaty became more and more unlikely to happen, the IDF had to withdraw to southern Lebanon, which they finished doing in 1985.
Occupying southern Lebanon allowed Israel to establish a security buffer, keeping mainland Israel safe from cross-border attacks by Palestinian terrorist groups.
However, Lebanese and Palestinian forces continued to wage a guerilla conflict against Israel and its allies over the next 15 years as the occupation continued to worsen relations with locals.
Eventually, Hezbollah became the dominant guerilla force in the region and was able to threaten the Galilee region with rocket fire and psychological warfare, which Israel struggled to combat against.
Eventually, in 2000, then-Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak withdrew from southern Lebanon unilaterally, fulfilling his campaign promise.
What is Hezbollah?
Hezbollah is a Shi’ite Islamist terrorist group and political party in Lebanon founded in 1985. It was initially established as a response to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and quickly came under the backing of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Hezbollah, led currently by Hassan Nasrallah, swiftly became the dominant armed group in Lebanon and was able to help push Israel out of southern Lebanon. Its fighters are well-trained and have also participated in conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Syria.
Over the years, Hezbollah has grown in power, being widely considered to be better equipped and trained than the Lebanese Army and arguably the strongest non-state actor anywhere in the world. It boasts tens of thousands of armed fighters, including the highly-trained Radwan Force commandos, and a wide range of rockets, missiles, drones, tanks, and other armored vehicles. Much of its military funding and training comes from its ally Iran.
Hezbollah has also achieved political power, winning control of large swathes of the Lebanese parliament during elections. It maintains its own affiliated news outlets, social services, radio and satellite TV stations, and more. It has gained so much power in Lebanon that many refer to Hezbollah as a state within a state.
However, Hezbollah is widely considered a terrorist organization around the world, though many, like the European Union, argue that only its military wing is a terrorist organization while its political faction is not. Exceptions to this trend include Russia, Iraq, China, North Korea, Syria, and Algeria.
In addition, Hezbollah has maintained that its primary goal is the destruction of Israel.
How many missiles does Hezbollah have aimed at Israel?
In late October 2023, publicly available sources gathered by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University and the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) noted that Hezbollah had around 150,000 missiles and rockets of various types. These include short-range rockets to guided missiles, anti-ship, anti-tank, and surface-to-air missiles. Some of these missiles, such as the Fateh-110, could reach well into Israel’s South, with a range of around 300 kilometers. These missiles, unlike rockets, are also very accurate, boasting GPS navigation.
This is also without mentioning an unknown number of drones in Hezbollah’s possession.
However, these exact figures are outdated as the war has raged on, and the current statistics are unknown.
Why did Hezbollah attack Israel in 2006?
On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in a diversionary tactic, carrying out a targeted anti-tank missile strike on IDF vehicles, killing eight soldiers and taking two others prisoner, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
Hezbollah proceeded to demand certain prisoners be freed in exchange for the Israeli soldiers. Still, Israel instead carried out a military assault, sending ground troops into southern Lebanon while striking targets from the air and sea.
Hezbollah’s motivation appears to be to force Israel into a prisoner exchange, though they also claimed issue with Israel’s continued control over the disputed Shebaa Farms.
Why is Israel attacking in Lebanon?
The current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah was started just a day after Hamas attacked Israel, carrying out the October 7 Massacre.
That very next day, Hezbollah carried out attacks on the Shebaa Farms and declared support for Hamas’s actions.
This was further exacerbated by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups in Lebanon carrying out attacks on Israel, as well as Israel’s tensions with Iran.
Following this, tensions have continued to escalate as both sides trade fire over the border, and many in Israel are raising calls to launch a more extensive campaign to eliminate Hezbollah to preserve Israel’s security interests.
Hundreds have already been killed or wounded due to the conflict, and it remains to be seen how this will escalate going forward.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday put him at odds with the IDF regarding how many haredi the military can absorb in a short amount of time.
Netanyahu said that while he was in favor of increasing haredi integration into the IDF, in practicality, the military needed more time to establish haredi-tailored programs and environments for this to be successful.
The prime minister’s remark comes days after top IDF officials presented a series of highly specific, customized programs for the ultra-Orthodox that are either already open or are “ready to go” as soon as the haredi respond to their military summons. This directly contradicts the prime minister’s words during the briefing.
Netanyahu spoke to the committee in a closed and classified hearing, but portions of what he said were, nevertheless, publicized, including his comments regarding haredi integration into the IDF.
When asked about the issue, Netanyahu said, “We would prefer that anyone who is not studying [in a yeshiva] share the burden [of military service.] But right now, there is a gap between what the army says it can absorb and what it can absorb, so the absorption capacity of the IDF needs to be increased.”
He added that there were intentions to create new frameworks that would allow the haredi to maintain their way of life as well as to respond to operational needs, such as establishing an ultra-Orthodox base along the border with Jordan that would be responsible for defense there.
How to fulfill the IDF’s need for more soldiers
Besides that example, Netanyahu said that the army’s need for more soldiers could be filled by extending the service of mandatory service soldiers as well as calling up a variety of reservists from among the population living in border communities who never responded to their call-ups or were given exemptions.
In contrast to Netanyahu’s statements, seeming to indicate that the IDF cannot absorb a significant increase of haredi men, the military has said repeatedly, dating back to August, that it has been ready to receive an additional 3,000 haredi per year, on top of the approximately 1,800 per year it has already been absorbing.
The announcement in August and the sending of summons to 3,000 members of the ultra-Orthodox community came after months of extensive work and the investment of significant resources to prepare both personnel and bases for a new, major influx.
One new option for service that the IDF has already added for the haredi to make their service more attractive is serving in technical and logistical capacities at hardened aircraft shelters at an air force base section where only men will serve.
Another new option is called the Yoav Track in logistics command centers, which includes fulfilling a wide variety of technical and logistic roles throughout the military, and not just in the Israel Air Force.
Also, though Netanyahu said that the IDF should look into forming a new haredi brigade, the military had already announced last week that on December 26, it would open one, distinct from Netzach Yehuda.
Netzach Yehuda had been the brigade that most of the haredi wanted to join to date. However, it has turned off many of the ultra-orthodox because it has a reputation for being more religious Zionist in nature than haredi.
Additionally, there is a recently established unit of haredi serving at the Ofer detention center, and that program is expected to grow.
Further, a Lt.-Col. with a hassidic Chabad background, who has joined the army. He will be focused on haredi affairs and making sure new inductees are comfortable and are having their needs addressed.
Despite a detailed presentation last week about all of these new service mediums as being already established for haredim, a spokesperson for Netanyahu doubled down on the claim that the IDF was still lacking in its capacity to absorb a major influx of haredi soldiers.
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
British rocker Paul Weller, Scottish band Primal Scream, and Irish rappers Kneecap will headline a ‘Gig For Gaza’ charity show at London’s O2 Academy Brixton on Dec. 13.
Weller, the former frontman for 1970s punk pioneers The Jam, is curating the show, with all proceeds going to organizations Medical Aid For Palestinians and Gaza Forever, which purportedly provide essential aid – including food, medical supplies, and emergency shelter – for Gazans who have been forced to flee their homes due to the Israel-Hamas War.
“This is an opportunity to enjoy a night of powerful music and make a tangible difference in the lives of people facing unimaginable hardship,” a press release for the show said. The concert will also feature guest speakers and short films.
Weller of Primal Scream performed with Palestinian flag
During a recent tour of the US, Weller, a longtime advocate for leftwing causes, performed with a Palestinian flag draped over his guitar amplifier. Speaking onstage from Glasgow, Scotland, last month, Weller said, “I would like to dedicate that last song to all the tens of thousands of women, children, babies, men, civilians in Palestine and Gaza. I would ask you one question. It’s really simple. There is no grey area. Are you for genocide, or are you against it? It’s a f–-king yes or no question…”
Over the summer, Primal Scream, which formed in the 1980s, gave their support for a jersey design for a Palestinian refugee football team based on their classic record ‘Screamadelica.’
In March, Kneecap withdrew from performing at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, after it was revealed that the US Army was a “super sponsor” of the event as well as defense contractor RTX Corporation.
“It is done in solidarity with the people of Palestine and to highlight the unacceptable deep links the festival has to weapons companies,” the group explained of their decision via Instagram. “This will have a significant financial impact on Kneecap… but it isn’t an iota of hardship when compared with the suffering being inflicted on the people of Gaza.
None of the artists appearing nor promo material for the concert mentioned the 101 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, nor the October 7 massacre that killed over 1,200 Israelis and sparked the current war aimed at toppling Hamas.
David Brinn contributed to this report.
Support for a two-state solution in the Middle East among Arab Americans and Palestinians residing in the West Bank and Gaza is on the rise, according to two recent surveys.
The more recent survey from YouGov and Arab News was published on Tuesday. The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) published the other in September.
A survey of Arab Americans leading up to the US presidential elections found that half of those polled (50%) believed in seeking a two-state solution.
The poll touched upon the future of the conflict and possible resolutions to see its conclusion. Half of Arab-Americans polled believed in seeking a two-state solution with shared governance over Jerusalem. 34% believe that there should be one state where Israelis and Palestinians have equal rights, and 9% stated that they were unsure.A separate poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in September found that support for the concept of the two-state solution among Palestinians continues to rise and has the support of 39% of those polled.
According to PSR, three months prior, support for two states stood at around 32%. Figures were taken from Gaza and the West Bank, at 39% and 38%, respectively.
However, when asked about a separate Palestinian state not linked to the “two-state solution” and when state borders are identified as those of 1967, support rises to 59%, PSR found.
Half of the respondents prefer the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, while 19% prefer a confederation between the two states of Palestine and Israel. Only 10% prefer establishing a single state with equality between Israelis and Palestinians.
When asked about solving the conflict and reaching statehood, nearly half of Palestinian respondents (48%) said they would choose “armed struggle” as a way to achieve it (50% in the West Bank, 36% in Gaza).
However, a third said they preferred negotiations to end the conflict, and 15% said they would like to see popular peaceful resistance.
International calls for two-states
Recent US administrations and other global actors have called for the end to the ongoing war and to reach a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
The Biden administration has attempted to broker a hostage and ceasefire deal as a first step. In remarks made ahead of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in September, US President Joe Biden reiterated his support for a two-state solution.
“As we look ahead, we must also address the rise of violence against innocent Palestinians on the West Bank and set the conditions for a better future, including a two-state solution, where the world — where Israel enjoys security and peace and full recognition and normalized relations with all its neighbors, where Palestinians live in security, dignity, and self-determination in a state of their own,” Biden said.
The survey conducted by Arab News and YouGov was conducted using a sample of 500 Arab Americans across the United States from September 26 to October 1, 2024. The survey data have a margin of error of +/- 5.93%.
The poll conducted by PSR comprised a sample size of 1,200 people, of whom 790 were interviewed face-to-face in the West Bank and 410 in Gaza. The margin of error stood at +/-3.5%.
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