No ceasefire in Gaza, a looming war in Lebanon. ‘Enabling’ is no strategy for success.
By Khaled Elgindy, Responsible Statecraft
As hopes for a Gaza ceasefire continue to fade, the threat of a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah is now greater than at any time since October 7.
Following the release of a Hezbollah video shot by surveillance drones over various targets in northern Israel, Israeli officials warned of “an all-out war” in which Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon would be sent “back to the Stone Age.” Not to be outdone, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah is threatening a war with “no restraint and no rules and no ceilings.”
Such a war would be catastrophic for Lebanese and Israeli civilians alike, and risks drawing Iran into wider conflict that engulfs the entire region. It would also instantly unravel what had been one of the Biden administration’s few achievements since October 7 — preventing a full-blown regional war.
Even as the Israel-Lebanon front heats up, however, the most serious threats to de-escalation in Lebanon and to prospects for a Gaza ceasefire come from the Biden administration itself.
One need only look at realities in Gaza, where nearly nine months of war have cost the lives of more than 37,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of them women and children, and reduced most of Gaza to rubble. Despite putting forward a comprehensive ceasefire plan, which now has the backing of the United Nations Security Council, the Biden administration has done little to alter the basic cost-benefit calculations of either side — particularly Israel’s.
Recent Posts
Why We Need to Complain About Democrats
Take Action Now Too often, centrist Democrats work against progressives, as with NAFTA and the Crime Bill that accelerated mass incarceration.WORT…
The Real Epstein Bombshell Isn’t at DOJ: It’s at Treasury
Take Action Now There is another set of files, being withheld by Scott Bessent, that could finally and fully explode this coverup and bring the…
What We Can Learn from Picasso’s Guernica
Take Action Now Picasso’s monumental anti-war mural uses cubism and historical tragedy to empower the public against totalitarianism and creative…
US Military Helping Trump to Build Massive Network of ‘Concentration Camps,’ Navy Contract Reveals
Take Action Now The Department of Homeland Security is using a repurposed $55 billion Navy contract to convert warehouses into makeshift jails and…