Israel has begun its third invasion of Lebanon:
The Israeli military announced early Tuesday that its troops had begun crossing into southern Lebanon, saying that they would destroy Hezbollah military infrastructure in villages close to the Israel-Lebanon border.
The immediate consequence of Israel’s continued escalation in Lebanon is displacement of the civilian population on a massive scale. According to the United Nations, there are already a million people displaced from their homes because of the war that Israel is waging on Lebanon. There are now more displaced Lebanese civilians than there were during the 2006 war, and that number will only increase as the war drags on. The vast majority of the displaced have fled their homes in the last week since the start of intense Israeli bombing. The Third Lebanon War is already as destructive as the second war and it hasn’t even been two weeks yet.
It is worth remembering that Israel is escalating in Lebanon because its leaders absolutely refuse to consider a ceasefire in Gaza. The Netanyahu government has chosen more war rather than accepting an end to the fighting that might still rescue the remaining hostages. The Israeli government assassinated Nasrallah because he would not abandon the policy of supporting Gaza. In short, they chose to wage a new war because they would not end the atrocious one they have been waging for the last year.
The Israeli government presents this invasion as a “limited” one, but as many have pointed out the same was said about the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. That led to years of brutal warfare and an occupation that lasted nearly until the end of the century. The Israeli government often describes its aggressive operations as “limited” to gain support in the West, but somehow they never stay “limited.”
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Daniel Larison is a contributing editor for Antiwar.com and maintains his own site at Eunomia. He is former senior editor at The American Conservative. He has been published in the New York Times Book Review, Dallas Morning News, World Politics Review, Politico Magazine, Orthodox Life, Front Porch Republic, The American Scene, and Culture11, and was a columnist for The Week. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Chicago, and resides in Lancaster, PA. Follow him on Twitter.