Israel Finds Peace Through Strength as Lebanon Neglects Trump-Brokered Deal | The American Spectator

The efforts of the Trump administration to bring Lebanon into the Abraham Accords have been frustrated by the realities of Lebanese politics. Granted, in August, in a statement supported by the Trump administration, the Lebanese government announced that it would disarm Hezbollah. This follows the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel in November 2024 that the Trump administration helped broker, which stated that only the Lebanese government could have weapons in southern Lebanon, and that Israel could act against terrorists that posed an imminent threat. (RELATED: The UN’s Failure in Lebanon)

But Hezbollah refuses to play along. Hezbollah Secretary-General Na’im Qassem threatened to plunge Lebanon into a civil war should the Lebanese government try to disarm Hezbollah, and recently reiterated that the organization will not disarm. And the Lebanese government has proven to be either unwilling or unable to prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. According to unnamed Western intelligence officials, “Hezbollah is rebuilding faster than the Lebanese army is dismantling.”

So, absent any durable progress towards peace from either Lebanon or Hezbollah, to protect its own, Israel has rightfully taken matters into its own hands. Israel has responded to Hezbollah’s violations of the ceasefire and Lebanon’s complicity by assassinating over 300 Hezbollah terrorists, striking hundreds of Hezbollah locations, and conducting over 1,000 attacks into Lebanon.

Israel has eliminated several key Hezbollah terrorists in recent months. This month, the IDF eliminated Issa Ahmad Karbala while he was riding his motorcycle. Karbala was a platoon commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force in the Ain Qana area in southern Lebanon. He assisted in moving weapons in Lebanon and advancing terror attacks against Israel. The Radwan Force is Hezbollah’s elite unit that planned to invade Israel’s north in its “Conquer the Galilee” campaign, which was foiled by Israel methodically destroying its infrastructure and assassinating its leaders.

Also this month, Israel assassinated a Hezbollah terrorist in the Dounine area in southern Lebanon when he was trying to rebuild Hezbollah infrastructure that Israel destroyed during its “Operation Northern Arrows” campaign. The IDF also assassinated a Hezbollah terrorist who was trying to re-establish Hezbollah infrastructure in the Kherbet Salem area in southern Lebanon, as well as another Hezbollah terrorist who tried to re-arm the group in Qalaouiyah, southern Lebanon. Israel also assassinated Hasan Ali Jamil Atwi, who was rebuilding Hezbollah’s Aerial Defense Unit. Atwi had also purchased equipment from the unit’s leadership in Iran and was key to the unit’s operations.

In September, the IDF assassinated Hezbollah terrorists Mohammad Abbas Shashoua and Muhammad Hussein Yassin Shashoua. Both were re-establishing Hezbollah’s artillery in the Sohmor area in southern Lebanon, and had advanced numerous rocket attacks toward Kiryat Shmona & the Golan Heights. Yassin was a senior operative who had carried out many terror attacks in northern Israel and smuggled weapons for Hezbollah to the south of the Litani River.

Also in September, the IDF assassinated Ammar Hayel Qutaybani, commander of Hezbollah’s Sinai Outpost in southern Lebanon, in addition to a terrorist in the Radwan Force in Tebnine, southern Lebanon.

Also that month, the IDF killed Hussein Saifo Sharif in Baalbek, Lebanon. Sharif was a senior weapons dealer in Lebanon who was planning attacks from Syria against Israel. The IDF additionally assassinated Muhammad Ali Yassin, a Hezbollah terrorist operating in the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon. Yassin was developing and producing weapons for Hezbollah.

And in September, Israel killed Wasim Saeed Jaba‘i, a terrorist who was active in both the Iranian Imam Hossein Division (run by Iran’s Quds Force) and Hezbollah, in the Ain Baal area. Jaba’I had built up Hezbollah forces and was integral in procuring weapons and orchestrating rocket attacks for the organization. He was seeking to rehabilitate the Iranian Imam Hossein Division in Lebanon.

In July, the IDF assassinated Ali Abd al-Qader Ismail, a senior Hezbollah commander who was attempting to rebuild Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Additionally, Israel assassinated Hassan Ahmad Sabra, who was a commander in the Radwan Force’s navy, in Kfour in southern Lebanon, and an additional Hezbollah terrorist in the Al-Naqoura area in southern Lebanon.

Additionally, in July, Israel assassinated Muhammad Shoaib in Nmairiyeh, Lebanon. Shoaib served an integral role in smuggling weapons from Iran to Lebanon, Syria, and Judea and Samaria, and in furthering terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon. 

In conjunction with assassinating terrorists, the IDF has continued to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure that the Lebanese government has allowed to continue to exist. This month, IDF troops destroyed a Hezbollah military site in the Yaroun area. The IDF also destroyed an underground Hezbollah site that stored weapons in the Beqaa area in southern Lebanon. IDF troops also destroyed an engineering vehicle that Hezbollah was using to rebuild its infrastructure in Bilda, southern Lebanon, and further Hezbollah infrastructure, including engineering machinery in southern Lebanon. The IDF also destroyed several of the Radwan Force’s military compounds and other Hezbollah targets in the Beqaa area. Radwan’s compounds were being used to train terrorists, incorporating live-fire drills and weapons training.

In September, the IDF eliminated Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in southern Lebanon. The IDF also blew up a Hezbollah naval vessel off the coast of Naqoura, southern Lebanon, that the terrorist group was using to spy on IDF troops. Israel also destroyed a Hezbollah headquarters in the Nabatieh area, southern Lebanon.

In August, the IDF destroyed Hezbollah military sites, including an underground compound, in the Beaufort Ridge area in southern Lebanon. The IDF also destroyed a weapons storage facility used by Hezbollah in the area of Deir Kifa in southern Lebanon, and weapons storage and production infrastructure in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa region. In July, the IDF eliminated Radwan Force sites, including terrorist training centers.

Unless and until Lebanon and Hezbollah step up to make real strides towards peace, Israel has no choice but to continue to attack terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon. At this time, the Trump administration faces very long odds in getting Lebanon on board with the Abraham Accords. Instead, the administration should focus on achieving deals with Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Azerbaijan.

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