“The only solution will be peace. The problem is how to achieve it. Lebanon wants peace. Israel wants peace. Hezbollah is the only one who doesn’t want itthat’s why they are trying to eliminate it from the area,” Hezi Zargari, a 45-year-old Israeli chef, tells EL ESPAÑOL about the escalation that the region is experiencing.
Zargari believes that most Israelis do not want to go to war and love peace, but they must defend themselves from attacks from neighboring countries. The age limit to remain in the army reserve it’s 40 yearswhich is why Zargari will not be called up to participate in the new war between Israel and Lebanon.
This morning Avichay AdraeeArabic spokesperson for the Israeli Army, asked residents of areas bordering Israel to stay away from their homes and avoid staying near facilities and equipment associated with Hezbollah.
In total, the military command has ordered the evacuation of 80 towns in southern Lebanon indefinitely. At least 68,000 displaced They left their homes and headed to other parts of the country and the capital, where the government has set up a network of schools as refuge.
Hezbollah, Iran’s main ally, joined the regional war that began last Saturday and set the Middle East on fire attacking Israel for the first time since 2024. That same year, Israel dealt them a blow with the ‘explosive hunters’ campaign on September 17 and 18, and assassinating Hasan Nasrallah on the 27th of that same month.
In total, the militia launched three missiles into northern Israel early Monday in retaliation for the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, although none caused injuries. Israel responded by launching missiles at different points in Lebanon, including its capital, Beirut.
Israeli reservists during the operation in southern Lebanon in 2024.
At least 40 people died in the bombings against the southern suburbs of the city and 246 were injured. In parallel, Israel began a ground raid which began last night, for which the army has mobilized 110,000 reservists.
Since the conflict began, Tehran has attacked American, French, American and British bases in Cyprus, Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Israel.
“Clearly Iran is following a strategy of putting as much pressure as possible on all the countries in the area,” said analyst Xabier Abu Elid. “In the case of Lebanon, they are probably going to want to redraw the border“, he explains to EL ESPAÑOL.
“Israel has seen in this conflict a of the last opportunities that they will have to make a major raid at a regional level” he continues, as long as they have the United States at their side and a certain green light. The mobilization of reservists “is not to send them to Iran, it is to maintain the situation in Palestine, but above all for Lebanon,” he concludes.
Israel and Lebanon, a long conflict
If this war will be like what they did in 78 in the Litani River Operationor “if it will be like what they tried to do since the year 82 of generating the 20 kilometers of occupation zone “It’s something we don’t know,” warns the analyst. “We don’t know how far they’re going to want to go this time.”
The Litani operation was the first invasion that Israel carried out in Lebanon against the PLO bases of the March 14 to 21, 1978. It was ordered in retaliation for the coastal highway massacre near Tel Aviv by Palestinian militants based in Lebanon.
In 1982, Israeli soldiers did not cross their northern border to stop Hezbollah, but to stop the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the PLO, led by Yasser Arafathad expanded its area of action and control to the south of Lebanon.
Many Palestinians had taken refuge in the neighboring country. Many were civilians, although others were part of the PLO. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Arafat’s PLO had expanded the southern Lebanon its area of action and control.
However, what began as an operation to “repel terrorist forces 40 km to the north”, as the IDF explains on its website, ended with an offensive that reached Beirutuntil Syria intervened militarily against Israel. Everything ended up being known as the first lebanon war.
Despite its efforts, Israel did not achieve one of its main objectives: finish off Arafat. However, the leader and his leadership ended up abandoning the city, a fact that allowed the Israeli army to control it without much resistance.
Lebanese soldiers and rescue teams inspect the impact of an Israeli attack in Kfardounine.
The war did not end here, but evolved in an occupation of southern Lebanon which lasted until the year 2000. What began as a simple operation to push the forces back 40 km to the north ended up being an occupation of the south of the country for more than 18 years.
Then there was a war known as of 33 days in 2006in which Israel and Hezbollah openly clashed in a short war between July 12 and August 14. The war ended with a ceasefire promoted by the UN through Security Council Resolution 1701, which established the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south of the country and reinforced the presence of international forces.
Israel weakened part of Hezbollah’s infrastructure, but failed to eliminate it. Hezbollah survived the conflict and strengthened its political position in Lebanon. He also participated in the syrian civil war supporting Bashar Al Assad since it began in 2011 and until its end on December 8, 2024.
Since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, 2023 until the ceasefire, the militia has been supporting Hamas and demanding ceasefire in Gazawhich finally occurred on October 10, 2025. Until two days ago, this had been the latest chapter in a long history of wars. What is clear is that the outcome of this or how long it will last is totally unknown.
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