Israel’s military deployed around 100 fighter jets to launch a massive bombing campaign in southern Lebanon on Sunday, endangering tens of thousands of civilians and heightening the chances of an all-out regional war.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) characterized the wave of airstrikes as an effort to preemptively “remove the threat” posed by a purportedly imminent Hezbollah attack, but observers argued the Israeli bombing marked a serious escalation that could further undermine hopes of a cease-fire deal in Gaza.
“Looks like Israel is now escalating in Lebanon in a major way in the hopes of kicking off a major war in the north that has thus far been kept to more limited exchanges,” wrote political analyst Yousef Munayyer. “Just as negotiations for a cease-fire were reportedly advancing.”
They’re not really trying to defend themselves, not to us. Preemptive attacks to what you do when you want to destroy other people, not when you want to defend yourself. But they are trying to justify themselves internally, because it’s not like every Israeli citizen is okay with killing everyone around you.
And it’s not the end result. It’s the intermediate result. Perhaps the end result will be far worse.