Hezbollah’s Resilience Amid Israeli Military Actions
In recent months, Israel has undertaken a series of aggressive military operations aimed at dismantling Hezbollah’s capabilities in Lebanon. This includes targeted assassinations of key leaders, significant assaults on infrastructure, and the disruption of weapons supplies. Despite these efforts, Israel has not succeeded in entirely halting the ongoing retaliatory strikes launched by Hezbollah.
Experts suggest that Hezbollah, which has been actively engaging Israel since last year in a show of solidarity with Hamas in Gaza, continues to display a remarkable level of resilience. Daniel Byman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, points out that before the onset of these hostilities, Hezbollah possessed a formidable arsenal, a cadre of highly skilled leaders, and a deep bench of well-trained fighters.
While Byman acknowledges that Hezbollah has indeed been “significantly degraded,” he emphasizes that even in its weakened state, the organization remains “pretty competent.” The situation has escalated recently with the Israeli military’s elimination of Hezbollah’s prominent leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in a targeted strike near Beirut at the end of September. Following this, Hezbollah confirmed the death of his likely successor, Hashem Safieddine, who was also killed in an Israeli attack earlier this month.
These assassinations are part of a broader strategy of intensified Israeli military actions against Hezbollah that commenced last month. This strategy included the mass remote detonation of Hezbollah operatives’ pagers and walkie-talkies, a ground incursion into southern Lebanon, and significant airstrikes targeting both southern Lebanon and the capital, Beirut.