DEEP DIVE: Israel Debates the Pros and Cons of a War Against Hezbollah

GALILEE, ISRAEL – JUNE 02: Smoke rises from forest fires caused by rockets fired by Hezbollah in Lebanon against Israel’s Upper Galilee region. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)

By Peter Green

Peter S. Green is a veteran foreign correspondent who has covered wars, revolutions and the evolution of democracy, capitalism and authoritarianism in Eastern Europe and the Balkans for The Times of London, the International Herald Tribune and the New York Times. He’s now based in New York, where he writes on both business and international affairs.

SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE REPORTING — Has Israel decided on a new war? Late Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that plans for an attack against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group had been approved, and that the army had taken measures to “accelerate readiness in the field.” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote in a post on X that “we are very close to the moment of decision to change the rules against Hezbollah and Lebanon. In an all-out war, Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will be severely hit.”

That decision would open a major second front just over 100 miles north of Gaza, where a steady exchange of missiles and air attacks between Israel and Hezbollah has been gaining in intensity since October. In Israel, the attacks have forced some 90,000 people from their homes, ignited large forest fires, and shut down Northern Israel’s economy. 

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