ISRAEL SHOULD TURN SOUTHERN LEBANON INTO A DUST BOWL

How should Israel respond to Hezbollah’s rocket atrocity?

Israel must not opt for "more of the same" in the aftermath of Hezbollah's deadly attack on Majdal Shams 

 

By Yaakov Lappin

 

JNS

Jul 28, 2024

 

 

Family and friends attend the funeral service of Druze children who were killed by a missile fired from Lebanon, in the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights, July 28, 2024

 

Israel’s response to the deadly Hezbollah rocket attack on the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights should not be “more of the same,” Israeli observers told JNS on Sunday. 

On Saturday evening, a Hezbollah rocket hit a soccer field in the northern Israeli town, killing 12 children and teens. The Israel Defense Forces later confirmed that the rocket was Iranian-made and was launched from an area north of the village of Shebaa in Southern Lebanon.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, speaking from the site of the rocket attack, said on Saturday night, “We know exactly where the rocket was launched from. The remains found on the soccer field confirm it was a Hezbollah rocket, specifically a Falaq rocket with a 53-kilogram warhead.”

IDF Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, a research fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, emphasized the need for a strategic and decisive response.

“The primary objective must be clear: to deliver a severe blow to Hezbollah to show that we do not overlook such a heinous act,” he stated. 

That Hezbollah had used a rocket with such a heavy warhead in a civilian area “with full awareness” was a new development, he said, and something Israel “cannot accept.” 

The attack is a departure from Hezbollah’s previous, calculated pattern of drawing Israeli fire to Lebanon to make it more difficult for Israel to complete its war objectives in Gaza against Hamas, he added. 

“The closer we get to achieving this goal, the more Hezbollah raises its level of activities, and the more we hurt Hezbollah, then of course the more it raises the intensity of its activities,” he said. 

Prior to Saturday’s rocket attack, the Israeli Air Force killed a Hezbollah Radwan Force member who was seen entering a structure in Kafr Kela in Southern Lebanon. 

Israel must “stick to its goals in Gaza while exacting a very heavy price from Hezbollah,” said Kuperwasser. In addition, Israel will need to rearrange the security situation in the north to allow tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to return to their homes, he added. 

Overnight Sunday, the IAF conducted strikes targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in multiple locations throughout Lebanon. However, these strikes are not considered to be a response to Saturday’s atrocity.

In light of Hezbollah’s escalation, “Our actions should convey that we are not deterred by the possibility of further escalation. This could involve striking Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, its strategic capabilities, and national [Lebanese] infrastructure that serves Hezbollah’s military capabilities,” said the former intelligence official. He emphasized however that “Israel will not target civilians, in contrast to Hezbollah’s methods.”  

Professor Uzi Rabi, senior researcher and the head of the program for Regional Cooperation at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies Studies at Tel Aviv University, argued for a shift in Israel’s approach to countering Hezbollah. 

“Israel needs to adopt an out-of-the-box strategy similar to used in Yemen,” said Rabi, referring to the July 20 IAF strike on the Houthi fuel port at Al-Hodeida, which came in response to a deadly Houthi suicide drone strike on Tel Aviv. 

Rabi suggested targeting Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure to disrupt daily life, thereby pressuring the population to turn against Hezbollah. “Hezbollah presents itself as Lebanon’s protector, but a significant disruption could lead to internal dissent and international condemnation of Hezbollah’s actions,” he added.

“What should guide Israel’s actions is to do what it has not yet done, for the simple reason that what it has done so far has not been effective. I do not trivialize the issue of targeted killings or what the IDF has done to Hezbollah, but we must admit that the bottom line is that it did not work,” he said. 

“Israel must shift to another mode—I call it the Al-Hodeida mode. To do what was done in Yemen—target the civilian infrastructure in the host country,” he added. This, he argued, would cause the population to experience disruption to its daily routine in every manner—electricity, water and other vital services, and could, in turn, cause the population to turn on Hezbollah.

“Let’s remember that Hezbollah defines itself as Lebanon’s protector,” he said. 

“It does this when we know exactly who Hezbollah’s patron is and how it functions,” said Rabi. Targeting civilian infrastructure, he said, would make it clear to both the Lebanese population and the world that an atrocity was committed against children in northern Israel, and that civilians in Lebanon will experience severe disruption as a result. 

“Their outcry will need to reach the whole world, and the world can then find the guilty party, and turn its gaze to Hezbollah,” he added. 

Beirut, said Rabi, is of paramount importance as it is the heart of both Lebanon and Hezbollah. 

Since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 24 civilians have been murdered in Israel by Hezbollah (including 12 on Saturday evening in Majdal Shams), and 22 IDF soldiers and officers have been killed (five in operational accidents). Hezbollah has fired over 340 unmanned aerial vehicles and over 6,400 projectiles at Israel.