September 26, 2024
The IDF’s recent spectacular successes in the north, while refreshing and very much worthy of praise, also revealed limitations. The pager operations were not carried out as part of a broad move; neither was the elimination of Aqil and his gang. Precision factories in Lebanon were not destroyed in the manner of the destruction of the Syrian facility in Masyaf. Years spent fighting the war on terror and the “war between the wars” have influenced Israeli strategic thinking. Hezbollah is a military force, but the war is still being conducted as a series of counter-terrorism operations.