On Sunday, Hizballah held a military parade in the Syrian city of Qusayr, located about ten miles from the Lebanese border; among the armaments on display were American-made armored personnel carriers (APCs). It’s quite possible that these were given to the terrorist organization by the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), as Beirut is the fifth-largest recipient of American military aid. While the APCs could also have been plundered from the now-defunct South Lebanese Army, the fact remains that the LAF has become an ally of Hizballah, as Lee Smith writes:

The 2016 U.S. appropriations bill to Lebanon stipulated that military aid must be used “to professionalize the LAF and to strengthen border security and combat terrorism, including training and equipping the LAF to secure Lebanon’s borders, interdicting arms shipments, [and] preventing the use of Lebanon as a safe haven for terrorist groups.” The military assistance was also intended to help Lebanon “implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701,” [by] disarming Hizballah and helping the government of Lebanon take full control of all its territory.

The parade in Qusayr shows that the opposite is the case. U.S. funding has done nothing to enhance the LAF’s ability to assert the sovereignty of the Beirut government, and instead has enhanced Hizballah’s ability to wage war in Syria. Indeed, the point of the parade was to show that Hizballah runs parts of Syrian terrain as well—with the help of the LAF.

[Even if] the LAF didn’t transfer the [APCs], . . . the LAF is still responsible because it did nothing to stop the party of God [Hizballah] as it took the equipment to the Syrian border and then across it. The Security Council resolutions were intended to ensure Lebanese sovereignty and sever Hizballah’s pipeline to Syria. Instead, the LAF, with the support of the White House, has helped Hizballah violate Lebanon’s sovereignty, as well as Syria’s, for that matter. The Lebanese Armed Forces are incapable of fulfilling any part of the requirements laid out in the appropriations bill. And that’s not simply because it’s an incompetent force, but rather because it’s under Hizballah’s control. . . .

[I]n continuing to support the Lebanese army, the Obama White House is actively supporting the pro-Iran axis in the Syrian conflict. And this is part of a larger regional pattern, evident in Iraq as well, where Iranian-backed Shiite militias are also using American-made military equipment. . . . Congress should move immediately to defund the Lebanese Armed Forces.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.