In December of last year, the IDF launched Operation Northern Shield, which uncovered and destroyed six attack tunnels dug by Hizballah from Lebanon into Israel. Jerusalem had showed the Israeli-side openings of tunnels to the UN International Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)—whose task is to ensure that only the Lebanese military is operating in the southern part of that country—but no action was taken in response. With the thirteenth anniversary of the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War approaching this Friday, Assaf Orion examines the failures of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the war and created UNIFIL:

While the United Nations reports thousands of patrols in the area without any findings, recent events proved that Israel has a credible intelligence picture penetrating even Hizballah’s clandestine and compartmentalized projects. Israel’s exposure of physical evidence sheds light on the absurdity of the UN’s declamations about the “lack of evidence” of violations of Resolution 1701.

[Likewise], there is a wide gap between the international community’s appeals to the Lebanese government and the simple fact that this government, whether as a hostage or as a willing accomplice, plays an active role in concealing Hizballah’s military and in enabling its activities against Israel and against the UN forces. Since Iran and Hizballah have seized control over politics in Lebanon, the Lebanese government is not the solution, but rather part of the problem.

[Thus] the gravest military threat to Israel’s security today has gradually emerged in Lebanon: a massive, forward array of Iranian firepower on Israel’s northern border, embedded in populated areas while enjoying a sovereign state’s protection and cloaked in international denial. . . .

Since it has become evident that the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south is not at the expense of Hizballah’s military forces there, it would be wise to temper international enthusiasm about reinforcing Lebanese forces. . . . Further assistance to the Lebanese army should be provided to units that pose no danger to Israel, such as those combating terrorist activities and border-security units, and assistance should be made contingent upon the fulfillment of Lebanon’s obligations [to keep Hizballah out of its southern region].

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.