As Israel intensifies Lebanon attacks, Hezbollah disarmament takes backseat
Al Jazeera
Ongoing fighting means issue of Hezbollah’s disarmament likely to remain on hold, military experts and analysts say.
Beirut, Lebanon – After more than a year of holding fire, Hezbollah last week launched a volley of missiles and drones towards an Israeli military site in the northern city of Haifa.
The Lebanese group said the attack was in response to the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the United States-Israeli war on Iran on February 28. Iran is Hezbollah’s main benefactor.
Since then, Israel has carried out a fierce air campaign on Lebanon, killing nearly 500 people, including 83 children, and forcing half a million from their homes. It also launched a new ground incursion into the south of the country, ordering troops to “take control of additional strategic positions” as it opened a new front in the regional war prompted by the attacks on Iran.
But as regional tensions rise, military experts and analysts say the Israeli escalation and Hezbollah’s resumption of fighting are complicating the Lebanese government’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah.
Ali Larijani is a longtime Iranian political insider, often viewed as a pragmatist, who has an important role following the killing of Supreme Leader Khamenei.
Israel’s response to Hezbollah attack kills at least 31 people and leads to mass displacement in Lebanon.
Crossing closures following the Israel-US war with Iran lead to panic buying in Gaza, where residents fear food shortages.
The US president called for IRGC members to lay down their arms or face ‘certain death’. Here’s how he misunderstands the IRGC.
Iran’s supreme leader has been killed in a joint US-Israeli air strike.