{"id":130867,"date":"2026-06-04T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=130867"},"modified":"2026-06-01T06:51:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T04:51:24","slug":"29-05-118","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=130867","title":{"rendered":"Israel must end the dangerous illusion of deterrence on the northern border – editorial"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>Israel must end the dangerous illusion of deterrence on the northern border – editorial<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

JPOST EDITORIAL<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Israeli soldiers take position as civilians take cover during a Hezbollah attack near the Israeli border with Lebanon in northern Israel, May 19, 2026. \/  (photo credit: AYAL MARGOLIN\/FLASH90)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Since the ceasefire between the US, Israel, and Iran was announced on April 8, 11 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon. Eleven. That number alone should be enough to force a national reckoning about what exactly Israel believes is happening on its northern border.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

While Israelis were told that deterrence had been restored after major attacks on Hezbollah from the air and through beeper operations, and that Hezbollah<\/a> understood the price of escalation, the reality unfolding in the North tells a very different story.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hezbollah drones<\/a> are still striking Israeli communities, such as Metula on Monday. Israeli soldiers are still dying. Children in the North are still seeing their education disrupted because of renewed attacks. Local residents who were promised security are once again hearing sirens and explosions.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Yet somehow, the situation is still discussed as though it is manageable. But it is not manageable.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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In response to Hezbollah\u2019s growing drone attacks on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, Israel should strike Beirut, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir reportedly told the security cabinet on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

An explosive drone launched by Hezbollah is seen near the Israeli border with Lebanon during a Hezbollah attack in northern Israel, May 19, 2026. (credit: AYAL MARGOLIN\/FLASH90)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Zamir arrived at the security cabinet meeting right after conducting a situational assessment in the North and visiting the 401st Brigade headquarters, where Sgt. Nehoray Leizer was later killed by an explosive drone.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

This is hardly a deterred enemy nor a quiet front<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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His death came after Hezbollah UAVs struck a home in Metula and damaged a school bus stop in Shomera earlier in the day.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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This is hardly a deterred enemy nor a quiet front, but rather a low-intensity war that risks slowly becoming normalized.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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The most dangerous thing about the current situation is not simply Hezbollah\u2019s continued attacks, but rather the illusion that the threat can somehow be contained indefinitely without a decisive strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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Hezbollah itself is not hiding its intentions. Its leader, Naim Qassem, recently rejected outright any discussion of disarmament, declaring: \u201cThere is no such thing as exclusivity of weapons or disarming Hezbollah.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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\u201cDisarmament is extermination,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is something we cannot accept.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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He also openly praised Hezbollah\u2019s first-person view (FPV) drones and boasted about attacks on Israeli troops.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, Qassem went even further this week by calling on supporters to \u201cbring down the government\u201d in Lebanon in the face of what he described as an \u201cAmerican-Israeli project.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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Hezbollah still possesses both the capabilities and support base needed to drag Lebanon into a civil war, Lt.-Col. (res.) Sarit Zehavi, founder of the Alma Research and Education Center, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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Many in Israel continue clinging to the fantasy that Hezbollah can somehow be separated from the Lebanese state or politically restrained through diplomacy alone. The truth is far different \u2013 despite the Lebanese government\u2019s attempts to rein in the terrorist group and hold peace talks with Israel, an admirable notion.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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Hezbollah has made its position abundantly clear. It views itself as an armed revolutionary movement backed by Iran, operating above the authority of the Lebanese government and beyond the constraints of the Lebanese state.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recognized this reality over the weekend, when he accused Hezbollah of trying to drag Lebanon \u201cback into chaos and destruction.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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\u201cHezbollah has ignored repeated calls from the legitimate government of Lebanon to cease its attacks and respect a ceasefire,\u201d he said. \u201cInstead, it has continued firing on Israeli positions and moving fighters and weapons into southern Lebanon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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Despite all this, Israel still appears trapped between two contradictory positions. On the one hand, it insists that Hezbollah\u2019s aggression cannot continue. On the other hand, it continues to respond in calibrated bursts, hoping escalation can somehow be avoided indefinitely. That approach is becoming increasingly unsustainable.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire arrangement with Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated clearly on April 8. Tehran claimed the opposite. That ambiguity has created exactly the kind of gray zone Hezbollah thrives in.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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It understands that Israel is exhausted after months of war. It understands that the international community desperately wants quiet. It understands that Washington fears regional escalation. It understands that slow attrition can sometimes achieve more than full-scale confrontation.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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The break in conflict between Israel and Iran has also led many to fear it gives Tehran the time it needs to rearm and help Hezbollah.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

11 soldiers can be killed after a ceasefire was supposedly achieved<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

But the residents of northern Israel<\/a> cannot continue living in this limbo indefinitely. The North has spent nearly two years balancing between evacuation, disruption, economic paralysis, and ongoing security threats. Schools continue to face interruptions. Businesses continue to suffer. Families continue wondering whether the next drone or missile will land in their community.<\/span><\/p>\n

Enough is enough. Israel cannot allow the North to become the country\u2019s permanently unresolved front. It cannot continue accepting a reality in which Hezbollah dictates the pace of escalation<\/a> while Israeli communities absorb the consequences.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether through military escalation, diplomatic pressure, or a broader regional arrangement, the situation in the North must finally be resolved in a way that restores genuine security rather than temporary quiet.<\/span><\/p>\n

If 11 soldiers can be killed after a ceasefire was supposedly achieved, then Israel is not living through postwar stability. It is living through the countdown to the next round.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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Israel must end the dangerous illusion of deterrence on the northern border – editorial JPOST EDITORIAL Israeli soldiers take position as civilians take cover during a Hezbollah attack near the Israeli border with Lebanon in northern Israel, May 19, 2026. \/  (photo credit: AYAL MARGOLIN\/FLASH90) Since the ceasefire between the US, Israel, and Iran was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[33,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130867"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=130867"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130962,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130867\/revisions\/130962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=130867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=130867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=130867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}