Abi Hilden, executive editor

After around two weeks of airstrikes against Lebanon, on Sept. 30, Israeli military forces launched ground operations in the country. According to a quote from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), the operations are intended to be “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids.” Other than announcing that they have launched these operations, the IDF has provided little concrete information as to what they entail.

On Sept. 23, Israeli forces launched initial airstrikes against Lebanon in order to target the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. According to a quote from the IDF as reported by NBC News, the strikes were aiming to “dismantle and degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities.” The strikes had an initial death count of more than 600 people, with thousands displaced in Lebanon. However, according to an article from CBS News, Lebanese officials have reported more than 1,000 deaths and around 1 million people displaced as of Oct. 2.

The airstrikes came in response to Hezbollah’s ongoing firing of rockets into northern Israel. According to an article from The Guardian, Hezbollah’s attacks on the country have been in response to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza and the bloodshed that has occurred since Oct. 7, 2023. Israeli officials have also stated that the goal of their ground operations in Lebanon are to allow the 60,000 civilians displaced by the Hezbollah militant attacks to return to the northern part of the country, according to an article from CBS News.

Israeli officials believe that their attacks on Lebanon will coerce Hezbollah into cooperating with what they want, according to an article from the BBC. After the initial Sept. 23 airstrikes, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in a quote to the BBC, “Today was a masterpiece… This was the worst week Hezbollah has had since its establishment and the results speak for themselves.” However, many Hezbollah observers believe that the group will not stop fighting as battling against Israel is the main reason for its existence.

Hezbollah has also received support from its ally Iran after they launched around 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on Oct. 1, according to an article from CBS News. As reported in The Guardian, these missiles — which were largely thwarted by Israeli aerial defenses with support from global allies such as the United States and United Kingdom — were not a surprise to experts who had been predicting a “regional escalation” from the war on Gaza for months. Specifically, experts in the U.S. have been warning of this escalation while officials have been supporting Israel’s attacks on Gaza both diplomatically and materially. Just recently, amidst the ongoing strikes, Israel’s Ministry of Defense reported securing $8.7 billion in aid from the U.S. according to an article from NBC News.

Many countries, including the United States and France, have called for a 21-day ceasefire deal, with both Lebanon and Israel having denied signing a proposal according to NBC News. Lebanese citizens show both hope and doubt for a ceasefire deal being reached. In a quote to NBC News, 33 year-old Karma Tabet stated, “In my opinion … Israel is putting conditions and is sure that Hezbollah will never accept them. At the same time Israel’s military opinion is against the cease-fire, because to them, the battle will decide.”

While as of the writing of this article a ceasefire deal has not been reached, it will be interesting to see whether one comes to fruition and how these attacks play out in the coming weeks.