Israel’s history of invading Lebanon a bloody saga of death, destruction

On September 25, a missile launched by Hezbollah reached the Tel Aviv area for the first time, though it was intercepted by Israel’s defence system. The firing came two days after Israeli air strikes killed over 560 people on Lebanese soil, in what has been deemed the deadliest day for the country since 2006.

When a similar escalation occurred in 2006, with Hezbollah crossing into Israeli territory for the first time, what followed was a full-scale invasion of southern Lebanon.

The ensuing war resulted in the death of around 1,100 Lebanese civilians and 120 Israelis, primarily soldiers.

Today, the question begging an answer is: is history poised to repeat itself?

Many experts do agree on one thing, however: any future war between Israel and Hezbollah would look like the 2006 war —only much, much worse.

“I am afraid that 2006 will look tame compared to what might come,” says Dr. Mireille Rebeiz, chair of Middle East Studies at Dickinson College, US.

“In all cases, we are dealing with a far-right government with a serious record of violations of international humanitarian law.”

2006 war and birth of ‘Dahiya Doctrine’

In 2006, Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, sparking a war that lasted 34 days, with Israel heavily bombarding the Iran-backed outfit’s strongholds in southern Lebanon and Beirut.

The ‘Dahiya Doctrine’ was formulated by Israel following this war, and is named after Dahiya, a suburb in southern Beirut where Hezbollah is headquartered —which suffered heavy destruction by Israeli forces at the time.

The controversial doctrine advocates the use of ‘tremendous force disproportionate to the magnitude of the enemy's actions’, including targeting civilian infrastructure in areas where militant groups like Hezbollah operate.

Israel has not openly or officially declared that it follows the ‘Dahiya Doctrine’ by name, but its military actions and public statements by military officials indicate that the principles behind the doctrine are very much actively in use.

For years, Israeli officials warned that in any future war with Hezbollah, the army would exact a punishing toll on Lebanon itself, heightening concerns that a potential ground invasion and all-out war could result in severe humanitarian consequences for Lebanon’s civilian population.

Lebanon has already experienced its deadliest day of violence since 2006, as Israeli attacks on September 23 claimed the lives of over 560 Lebanese people, including 50 children, and injured 1,835 others.

"Furthermore, Lebanon’s economy and moral were stronger in 2006. Today, with the inflation rate, the devalue of the Lebanese pound, the burden of the Syrian refugees, Lebanon cannot recover quickly. The consequences of such war would be catastrophic," Rebeiz says.

When did it all start?

Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have deep roots, dating back to Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon in 1982.

On June 6, 1982, Israeli forces entered Lebanon by land, sea, and air, targeting the Beqaa Valley in the east, Beirut in the west, and Palestinian refugee camps in the south.

For two months, Beirut endured a relentless siege, with water and electricity cut off. The Israeli invasion resulted in the death of an estimated 17,000 to 19,000 Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians, including over 3,000 civilians.

Israel’s proximate aim was to dismantle the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), which was particularly active in Lebanon during this time, as it became home to a significant number of Palestinian refugees after 1948.

PLO factions recruited over 20,000 fighters from these camps and used Lebanon as a base of operations to attack Israel.

A resistance force born from Israeli occupation

Hezbollah, an armed Shia group with strong ties to Iran, was formed in southern Lebanon, in response to the Israeli occupation.

The group rose to prominence after the PLO's forced relocation to Tunisia following the 1982 invasion.

From the beginning, Hezbollah received strong backing from the Revolutionary Guards of Iran, which had undergone the 1979 revolution and was seeking to expand its influence across the Middle East.

In 1985, following the Israeli invasion, Hezbollah issued its “Open Letter”, where the group laid out its goals and principles.

"Our primary assumption in our fight against Israel is that Israel is an enemy which must be wiped out of existence,” the letter read.

Hezbollah identified Israel as an illegitimate and occupying force that had to be fought through armed resistance. This stance has remained a central tenet of Hezbollah’s ideology:

Following Israel’s withdrawal in 2000, Hezbollah grew increasingly powerful, establishing itself as a major force in Lebanese politics and a constant thorn in Israel’s side.

The group has been open about its ties to Iran since its early years, with Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah having publicly acknowledged the extent of funding it receives from Iran in 2016:

“Hezbollah’s budget, its income, its expenses, everything it eats and drinks, its weapons and rockets, come from the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Today, Hezbollah remains one of the many extensions of Iran’s military and political reach across the Middle East, enabling Tehran to exert influence throughout the region without direct involvement in many conflicts.

What happens now?

Hezbollah has so far signalled that it is not seeking to escalate the conflict but remains prepared to respond if forced into war, warning that it has so far used only a fraction of its capabilities.

Meanwhile, Israel has maintained that its attacks in Lebanon will continue until Hezbollah’s rocket fire ceases and it is safe for people in northern Israel to return to their homes.

In December, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Beirut would be turned "into Gaza", where over 41,000 people have been killed so far, if Hezbollah started an all-out war.

Hezbollah has been striking targets in Israel since October 8, at the beginning of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, and has vowed to continue its attacks as long as Israel continues pounding the Palestinian enclave.

With ceasefire negotiations over Gaza stalled and little sign of progress, the conflict shows no signs of de-escalation.

"War is the failure of dialogue, and one can say that in the past two decades, there has been no serious dialogue on Palestine," Rebeiz says.

(This article has been updated to reflect the views of an expert)