The current war in Iran has spilled into Lebanon, much to Iran’s satisfaction.

Hezbollah, a creation of Iran and Iran’s chief proxy in the Middle East, is dragging Lebanon into a war yet again, despite having  assured the Lebanese government that it would not intervene on behalf of Iran if U.S. and Israeli strikes remained “limited.”

Three days before the United States and Israel went to war with Iran on February 28, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem told the Lebanese authorities that Hezbollah’s assurance hinged on whether Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was spared and the Iranian regime was not targeted.

With the joint U.S. and Israeli assassination of Khamenei, and with calls by U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for regime change in Tehran, Hezbollah threw caution to the wind and opened a new front in the Iran war.

In the early hours of March 1, Hezbollah fired a token number of rockets and drones at northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of Khamenei. Since then, Hezbollah has targeted Tel Aviv.

A senior Hezbollah official, Mahmoud Qamati, told the Associated Press on March 3 that Israel “wanted an open war … so let it be an open war.”

With these attacks, Hezbollah has shattered the fragile ceasefire in Lebanon that the United States and France brokered in November 2024. Under its provisions, Israel would withdraw from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah would disarm.

The truce ended Israel’s two-month military campaign in Lebanon, which was aimed at degrading Hezbollah’s capabilities and driving it north of the Litani River, a distance of about 30 kilometers from the Israeli border.

Neither Israel nor Hezbollah fully observed the ceasefire. Suspicious of Hezbollah’s intentions, Israel established five outposts in southern Lebanon after its withdrawal. Hezbollah violated the truce by rebuilding itself and firing on Israeli forces.

In the face of growing tensions, Israel threatened to carry out another invasion of southern Lebanon, saying it had the approval of the Trump administration. In the meantime, Israel conducted near-daily air strikes against Hezbollah throughout Lebanon. These raids claimed the lives of about 400 of its foot soldiers and commanders.

Having been seriously degraded by Israel, Hezbollah remained on the sidelines during the 12-day war between Israel, the United States and........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)