Israel has been a model of restraint despite relentless bombardments fired off by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. (Image: Getty Images)
During a trip to Israel earlier this year I saw for myself people who had been forced to flee their homes in the Northern area of the country because of relentless rocket attacks from Hezbollah terrorists. Uprooted and institutionalised in so-called temporary accommodation, they were jaded, miserable and utterly frustrated. How long would it take – would it ever take – for it to be safe enough to return to their homes?
It`s a situation that has been going on since Hezbollah began launching its sustained rocket fire on on October 8th – the day after Hamas terrorists massacred over 1300 people and took hundreds more as hostage. Since then over 8,000 rockets have been fired with over 70,000 Israelis forced to evacuate their homes. In the process they have become, as ’s ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon so poignantly phrased it, refugees in their own land.
Yet over the last year the plight of the displaced Israelis has been largely untold – with events in Gaza dominating the news agenda.But it also slipped under the radar because there was little to tell. Despite ever-increasing hostilities by Hezbollah, demonstrated remarkable restraint as, according to officials, it engaged in negotiations to secure safe passage for their residents to return home. However, rather than applaud the country for its measured approach, as soon as launched first air strikes and now its limited incursion into Southern Lebanon, the narrative has become tangled in the weeds of double standards. With a global outcry against for its temerity to fight back.
As always, many conversations surrounding are predicated on either ignorance or prejudice. Often both.That Hezbollah has spent over 20 years building an infrastructure and strongholds on `s northern border, as well as military-grade capabilities from which to infiltrate the country and carry out attacks similar to October 7. These facts are overlooked. So too is the fact that has largely sat on its hands to avoid reprisals. But ask yourself this: which sovereign country in the world would permit the likes of Hezbollah`s actions on its borders? Imagine the UK – even Starmer – looking the other way if innocent communities in Britain were threatened with annihilation from an implacable terrorist enemy. The moral imperative would be for the Government to do something to safeguard its citizens and allow them to return home.
But the rules, as always, are different in the Middle East and is supposed to ignore what Hezbollah has been saying for years – that it seeks to conquer and destroy. We should be glad that it is immune to such a narrative. For the very survival of the Israeli people, a white flag and open door to massacre cannot be an option.
Of course the loss of any single innocent life, regardless of sides, is one too many. But this is war – a fight against terrorism for which every moral nation will pay a price should this barbarous enemy be allowed to succeed. And throughout history civilians have paid the price – though last week the Israeli military called on people in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate homes and other buildings where Hezbollah used their weapons in order to avoid the coming storm. (Again which army does that – did the allies drop notes in Dresden?)
Unlike any other nation the demands on in the face of war are always more acute – with international communities urging the country not to escalate tensions. Clearly that has shifted from a model of restraint to ground invasion tells the story for itself. The situation is no longer tolerable. What is also intolerable is the suggestion that should have to play it any other way.