The deadliest war between Israel and Hezbollah took place in 2006. In June 2006, Israel's Lebanese Islamic Resistance Movement invaded southern Lebanon, declaring the "destruction" of Hezbollah. But Israel, which defeated the combined Arab forces in less than a week in 1967, has not been able to defeat Hezbollah for 33 days in a row but has been forced to retreat at the hands of resistance fighters.
link
The conflict erupted in 2007 with Hezbollah's cross-border operation. Hezbollah fighters fired rockets at Israeli border towns on July 12, 2006, in a bid to divert Israeli forces from anti-tank missiles on two armored Humvees patrolling the Israeli side of the border. Three soldiers were killed in the attack. Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and took them to Lebanon. Hezbollah has demanded the release of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel in exchange for the release of abducted soldiers. Israel has denied the allegations and responded by launching airstrikes and artillery strikes on Lebanese targets. Israel attacked both Hezbollah's military bases and Lebanon's civilian infrastructure, including the Rafik Harry International Airport in Beirut. The IDF launched a ground offensive in southern Lebanon. Israel also builds air and naval blockades. Hezbollah then launched a series of rocket attacks. At the same time, Hezbollah was fighting against Israeli forces on several fronts.
link
Tel Aviv has evacuated all warships from the area after Hezbollah missiles hit Israeli warships in the Mediterranean.
In this war, 125 Israelis were killed and 1244 wounded. Hezbollah also shot down about 20 Israeli tanks, one attack helicopter, and one warplane. In this war, Lebanon as well as Israel's infrastructure was severely damaged. According to the UK, 300,000-5,000,000 Israelis were displaced.
Despite their military superiority, many Israelis have stagnated and forgotten their preconditions and accepted Hezbollah's preconditions at the UN middle ground.
Israel generally views the war as a failure and a lost opportunity. It was a huge achievement for Hezbollah. The effects of the war were so great that Israel's defense minister, chief of staff, and several IDF generals were forced to resign after the war.
Due to the unprecedented Iranian military support to Hezbollah before and during the war, some see it as the first episode of the Iran-Israel proxy conflict rather than a continuation of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Comments