Hezbollah Failure

Hezbollah officially arose out of the ashes of the First Lebanon War. Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak himself stated, “When we entered Lebanon…there was no Hezbollah. We were accepted with perfumed rice and flowers by the Shia in the south. It was our presence there that created Hezbollah.” They are the product of a radical Shiite movement with the assistance of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Their manifesto was declared on February 16, 1985. One of their major goals included ending the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon. Early on there were skirmishes, but not much conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The 1989 Taif Agreement was the beginning of the end of the Lebanese Civil War. In 1990 the 16 year long civil war was over.

The effect on Lebanon was 150,000 dead 200,000 wounded, nearly one million displaced, and millions of dollars in infrastructure damage. After the war political revisions were implemented such as the expansion of the National Assembly to 128 seats, which were divided equally between Christians and Muslims and the strengthening of the powers of the Sunni position of prime minister. The agreement also called for the end of Syrian and Israeli occupation based on UN Resolution 425, but this did not happen immediately. In May 1991 all militias were dissolved except for Hezbollah, which claimed to be a resistance movement, not a militia, and had the support of Syria and Iran to continue. As the other militias dissolved the Lebanese Armed Forces began to rebuild. Lebanon also began to elect a new parliament where Hezbollah won 10 out of 128 seats. Hezbollah had established itself in Lebanon not only as a military force, but also a political force.
While Hezbollah’s rise to power was tolerated in Lebanon, Israel did not feel the same way.

Hezbollah which tried to end Israel’s occupation in Lebanon launched an attack on IDF soldiers in Israel’s “security zone” on July 10, 1993 where five Israeli soldiers died. Nine days later another attack by Hezbollah was orchestrated that added to the casualties. Finally, a third attack that killed one more occurred on July 23. Israeli patience ran out two days later when they launched Operation Accountability also known in Lebanon as the Seven-Day War. This operation consisted of a bombardment of southern Lebanon. Results of the week-long assault includes thousands of buildings bombed, infrastructure destroyed, 120 Lebanese civilians killed, 500 more wounded, and 300,000 Lebanese civilians displaced. Hezbollah losses varied from 8-50 depending on the source. Israel suffered the loss of one IDF soldier dead, three more wounded, two civilians killed, and 24 more civilians wounded. After condemnation of the war from the UN Security Council, the United States negotiated a ceasefire just one week after it started where both sides would refrain from attacking civilian targets, which occurred often in this conflict. The ceasefire would last until the next major conflict between Israel and

Hezbollah.
While skirmishes continued the next major conflict did not occur between Israel and Hezbollah until 1996.

It all started on March 30 when two men in Yater, Lebanon were killed by an IDF missile attack while working on a water tower. Israeli officials stated that the attack was a mistake as Israeli troops thought that the two men were terrorists. Hezbollah responded to the deaths of these two men by launching 20 missiles into northern Israel. Later, the explosion of a roadside bomb in the village of Barashit killed a 14-year old Lebanese boy and injured three others, which led to a Hezbollah attack of 30 missiles into Northern Israel on April 9 and injured six Israelis. Israel launched Operation Grapes of Wrath two days later. Like the Seven Day War, Israel bombarded southern Lebanon as well as the Beirut area, and the Beqaa Valley by utilizing large air raids and heavy artillery fire. The purpose of this bombardment was to put pressure on the Lebanese government to take care of Hezbollah. A Syrian military post was also bombed, killing one soldier and wounding seven more. Israel also began to blockade Beirut, Sidon, and Tyre on April 13 to put economic pressure on Lebanon. The following two days Israel launched an assault on Beirut’s power stations which were destroyed. The most horrifying attack occurred on April 18 as Israel landed attacks on a UN base at Qana where 106 civilians were killed and 116 more were injured. The UN determined the attack was on purpose as

Israel did not commit any technical or procedural errors in launching the attack while Israel rejected these findings. A ceasefire was agreed to on April 27 thanks to American diplomats, nine days after the UN Security Council approved Resolution 1052. The terms were based on the ending of cross-border attacks on civilians. Operation Grapes of Wrath lasted 16 days. Lebanon suffered $500 million dollars’ worth of economic damage in that short amount of time. Losses for the Israelis included three soldiers, 62 civilians, and the displacement of 20,000-30,000 civilians. Lebanese losses were 154 civilians killed, 351 wounded, and 350,000-500,000 civilians displaced. Hezbollah lost 14-50 fighters and Syria lost about 12 fighters.
The new millennium started off with the renewal of the Hezbollah-Israel rivalry. In January the South Lebanon Army, which served as a proxy for Israel had its Colonel Akel Hashem assassinated by Hezbollah. Hashem was responsible for day to day operations. Israel would respond by attacking Lebanon’s power stations in Jambour, Deir Nbouh, and Baalbek. Israel finally followed through on UN Security Council Resolution 425 on May 24, 2000 as they began to withdraw to the Israeli side of the UN Blue Line which is based on the border before the IDF invasion in 1978. On June 16 it was confirmed to the Security Council that Israel had retreated and had followed through with resolution 425. Lebanon and Hezbollah disagree with this statement as they believe Shebaa Farms and surrounding areas are part of Lebanon. The UN stated that this area was Syrian territory. Syria claims that the territory was Lebanese. This dispute continues to this day as Hezbollah claims that they do not have to disband until all Lebanese territories are rightfully returned. Later, in 2000 the South Lebanon Army collapsed, and many of its members had to flee to Israel, those who stayed in Lebanon were tried in military courts. Lebanon celebrates its Liberation Day on May 25 in celebration of the end of Israeli occupation.
One of Hezbollah’s main tactics concerning Israel is the capturing of Israeli soldiers. On October 7, 2000 three IDF soldiers were captured while patrolling the Lebanese border near Shebaa Farms. All three were killed. This marked the first incident between the two factions since Israel’s withdrawal. The bodies of these three would be given back to Israel in 2004 as part of a prisoner swap that returned an Israeli businessman for 23 Lebanese and about 400 Palestinian detainees. Also in 2004 there was a notable increase in violence. Hezbollah killed an IDF soldier in an armored bulldozer that crossed the border to clear bombs. Israel initially stated that they were clearing Hezbollah bombs in Israel, but later admitted that they did cross the border. Israel would retaliate by bombing two of Hezbollah’s bases. The violence continued as Hezbollah killed an Israeli soldier along the disputed Shebaa Farms. The summer consisted of a period of Israeli shelling and Hezbollah cross-border raids. On September 2, 2004 the United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 1559 which called on Lebanon to establish sovereignty within all its land and called on the end of all militias, but Israel and Lebanon differed on the interpretation of Hezbollah as a militia. Following this resolution Syria would end its occupation in 2005. Hezbollah and Israel would continue to scuffle along the border as attacks and responses grew in intensity.