LOS ANGELES.–Killing nearly 500 in air strikes of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon yesterday, Israel claims Hezbollah must stop its rocket attacks in northern Israel, driving 70,000 out their kibbutzes and villages. Hezbollah’s 64-year-old Supreme Leader Hassan Nasrallah says he will not stop firing rockets into Israel until it ends its war with Hamas. So, to get this straight, Nasrallah risks complete destruction of Lebanon, an already impoverished area, until it gets Israel to stop its war with Hamas in Gaza. Reading between the lines, it’s Iran’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khaemeni that’s calling the shots, not Nasrallah. Yet the U.S. and U.N. pretend that Iran is not the chief state sponsor of terrorism in the region, acting like the current Israeli bombing campaign against Hezbollah can’t be stopped. Iran, not Hezbollah, it responsible for the dangerous escalation in Lebanon.
After the July 31 death of Hamas leader-in-exile Ismail Haniyeh, the Aytatollah promised retaliation against the Jewish state. For some unknown reason, no one has recognized today’s Hezbollah’s rocket attacks as retaliation for Haniyeh’s death. It’s no accident that Nasrallah, an Iranian puppet, follows the Ayatollah’s orders to attack Israel. Hezbollah, that operates primarily in Lebanon, has branches in Iraq and Syria known as Ketaib Hezbollah. But in case anyone forgets, it’s an Iranian-backed militia designed to counter U.S. and Israeli influence in the Middle East. “As we speak, there are important forces trying to come up with ideas and we are open-minded for that,” said Israeli U.N. Amb. Danny Danon, responding to new U.S. ideas to deescalate the Lebanon operation. U.S. officials know that the rocket attacks by Hezbollah on northern Israel are all directed by Ayatollah.
Fighting escalated after the unexpected detonations of sabotaged pagers and walkie-talkies last week in Lebanon, killing scores of people, injuring thousands more. Nasrallah accused Israel’s Mossad Security Service of sabotaging some 5,000 pagers ordered by Nasrallah six months ago to counter Israeli hacking of Hezbollah mobile phones, enabling Israel to target Hezbollah commanders and others. “We are not eager to start any ground invasion anywhere . . . We prefer a diplomatic solution,” Danon said. But Danon isn’t the one calling the shots in Lebanon, knowing the Ayatollah is still getting back at Israel for Haniyeh’s death. Nasrallah didn’t calculate that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wouldn’t escalate the war in Lebanon, now that the Hamas War has calmed down. Hamas considers it a victory to survive nearly a year of Israeli war.
Netanyahu wants to return 70,000 displaced northern Israel residents back to their villages and kibbutzes but not before Nasrallah calls off his bombing campaign. Instructing Hezbollah to continue to bombard Israel shows, without any doubt, that the war in Lebanon is directed by Tehran, not Lebanon. With the U.N. General Assembly meeting his week, State Department officials, led by 62-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken and 46-year-old National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, have been consulting with allies how to prevent a wider escalation. U.S. and its allies have been reluctant to confront Iran for causing the current escalation that promises to devastate Lebanon if it goes on much longer. No one has confronted the untouchable Ayatollah, all fearful that Iran could get directly involved in the war, knowing Iran has plenty of its own problems.
Israel wants no part of any new war with Hezbollah but was forced into the situation over the last year with its ongoing war with Hamas. Hamas started the war Oct. 7, 2023 with its Nazi-like massacre near the Gaza border, raping, torturing and murdering 1,200 Israelis and others, taking another 250 hostages. How ironic that once the war started the late Hamas-leader-in-exile Ismail Haniyeh flew to Tehran to ask the Ayatollah for help. Haniyeh was told Hamas is on its own for not informing Tehran about their planned attack on Israel. So, Iran already turned its back on Hamas but now directs Hezbollah to fire rockets into Israel. So, it the U.S. and its allies wants to deescalate the Lebanon war, they need to serve notice on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei not just Nasrallah. Nasrallah has limited autonomy, taking his orders from Tehran when it comes to dealing with Israel.
If the U.S. and U.N. want to deescalate the war in Lebanon, they need to put more heat on the Ayatollah who pretends he has nothing to do with the conflict. Clearly, Nasrallah has been ordered to fire rockets into northern Israel to start a two-front war for Israel to stop its campaign in Gaza. But Netanyahu is too savvy to know what’s really going on in Lebanon. After Haniyeh’s July 31 assassination, Iran promised to retaliate against Israel, but not directly, only through its surrogates. With Iran’s Ketaib Hezbollah have problems in Iraq, the Aytatollah wants no direct war with Israel or anyone else. “We still think it’s not too late for the Lebanese government, for the Lebanese people, to put pressure on Hezbollah to stop their aggression. If they will not fire rockets into Israel, then we will be able to bring back out residents, back to their communities, that’s it,” Danon said.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
