It is a victory
Hezbollah laid down their weapons before the onslaught in Gaza stopped. They retreat from the border. They couldn't protect the population from Israeli air strikes.From the same article:
The 60-day truce, which is supposed to lay the groundwork for a more lasting cease-fire, comes after three months of withering Israeli attacks that have thrown the organization into disarray.
Deep intelligence infiltration enabled Israel to assassinate many senior leaders, including Hezbollah’s secretary general of 32 years, Hassan Nasrallah. Israel bombarded the group’s most loyal communities, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee and blowing up dozens of villages, ensuring that many people have no homes to immediately return to.
Imagine reading this and being an Israel supporter. IMAGINE FUCKING WRITING IT
That's how it's always victories for the guys they like. They claim the other side had a never stated goal without evidence, often a wildly unrealistic one, and because they didn't achieve the thing they never said they tried to achieve, they declare victory. Hezbollah failed to completely collapse Israel, so they were defeated! Russia didn’t completely annex Ukraine, and it doesn't look like he's going to, so Putin is losing!
So Hezbollah, a part of the Lebanese government, agreed that Israel should withdraw completely (after prominent Israeli officials said all of Lebanon is Israeli territory), the UN will watch over the south of Lebanon, and that they want the Lebanese army to have more of a presence in the south as well. They agreed to completely withdraw, and they want the Lebanese to fortify the area. And this is a Hezbollah loss?
Yes it is, because the Lebanese army is both unwilling and unable to stand up to Israel. Same as the UN. If anything this war showed that only Hezbollah is able to guarantee the security of the area. Both the un and the Lebanese army need to get the fuck out. If the french and the yanks start supporting the Lebanese army, things can get even worse.
Israeli objectives of stoping bombardment were achieved.
It's a disastrous loss. The strategy of holding land was a massive failure, in comparison to a more mobile defence like in 2006.
That being said Hezbollah is still strong enough to face the Zionists entity. If that was not the case southern Lebanon would turn into a second gaza and there would have been no ceasefire.
Hopefully all the Lebanese officials who were used by the great powers to pressure Hezbollah will get their due.
I think it did more harm to Israel than the other way. Hezbollah survived the pager attack and mounted an effective defense against a military that by all rights should have steam rolled them. I think it's much more of a 'there are no winners in war' type situation
The pager attack was mostly against hospitals and health services, while it did affect many Hezbollah members, the main users of pagers are hospital staff. It did not cause much damage to the organization.
Hezbollahs goal was to force a ceasefire in gaza, this failed.
While the Zionists were not able to advance much in lebanon, this defence was extremely costly for Hezbollah, while the Zionists did not suffer much. In 2006, while the Zionists advanced more, Hezbollah loses were 70 times less, and at least 1 Zionist army ended up encircled. Ready to be slaughtered.
The silver lining is that the reason for the ceasefire was due to betrayal from other Lebanese factions, not to a defeat in the field.
I just looked up the casualties in that theater. You're right. I still don't think it was a clear win for Israel. Definitely a Hezbollah loss though
Who could forget the infamous video of a Hezbollah squad crying while in retreat?
The author isnt’t wrong with the assertion that Hezbollah has failed it’s declared goal of keeping Lebanese people safe and that even though a lot of people are still cheering for a victory, others have gotten a lot more sober with the reality of the situation.
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut..
Hezbollah began firing on Israel in solidarity with Hamas after that group’s deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. For months, as Israel and Hezbollah exchanged fire across the Israel-Lebanon border, Hezbollah’s leaders swore that the battle would end only when Israel stopped attacking Gaza.
That demand is nowhere to be found in the new cease-fire, leaving Israel free to continue its quest to destroy Hamas.
What the fuck’s wrong with this guys brain? It’s not a damn RPG quest, it’s mass murder. He even acknowledges that when he wrote this article, straight up calling it an invasion. Same as in the follow up video to that article, saying the IDF troops invaded Libanon, and an earlier article reporting on armed settlers attacking Palestinians with the protection of IDS soldiers. So why did he suddenly make an exception here and call it "quest to destroy Hamas" instead of repeating what he has said in the past.
Maybe he wanted to be more critical but his NYT paymasters set him straight again, maybe he just wants to save face and feign solidarity with civilians every once in a while? But in any way this whole flip-flopping is a good example of how disingenuous the whole white-saviour-complex of liberal journalists is.
Ceasefire is already falling apart
The Israeli military said its air force struck a facility used by Hezbollah to store mid-range rockets in southern Lebanon on Thursday, after both sides accused each other of breaching a ceasefire that aims to halt over a year of fighting.
Israel said it also opened fire on Thursday towards what it called "suspects" with vehicles arriving at several areas in the southern zone, saying it was a breach of the truce with Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, which came into effect Wednesday.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah in turn accused Israel of violating the deal.
"The Israeli enemy is attacking those returning to the border villages," Fadlallah told reporters, adding "there are violations today by Israel, even in this form".
this pack of lies is gonna age real poorly when the ceasefire falls apart and Hezbollah launches a thousand missiles
It is a loss. Why is everyone on the left FUCKING GASLIGHTING THIS!. Hezbollah entered the fight to stop the genocide in Gaza and they FAILED. Cowardly attitudes all over the left refusing to admit this and trying to gaslight us into thinking its a victory because Hezbollah is still intact (for the time being; although non-military pressure of all kinds will still be applied)
When the settlers have gone back to their homes in northern Israel I will consider it a Hezbollah loss. Their part in this coalition is maintaining pressure and a northern front. They are continuing to do that, even with a ceasefire (that will likely not even last two weeks). It isn't a loss or a victory, it is just a continuation of the war. Neither side has accomplished anything of note, but Israel also got it's nose bloodied on something they clearly thought would be a cakewalk.
Stop misusing words you don't understand like a child. No one is gaslighting anyone.
Might as well say the same thing about all the worldwide protests and BDS, too. This is doomerism. It hasn't stopped the genocide YET, but that doesn't mean it had no effect. It is going to take a lot of pressure from many sources to get Israel to break.
I hear you. The only real thing that Hezbollah agreed with is the 'no longer support gaza'. That's unequivocally a loss. What about every other metric though? Israel invaded and weren't able to do anything substantial except bomb villages into oblivion. It's become very clear that the IDF can't perform at all without an air force. All of the IDF's secondary goals have failed.
They stood up to NATO and they are still standing. They forced them to retreat, maintained inner unity despite US coup attempts and made thousands of settlers flee, who are still afraid to come back. Remember they had already plans to sell real estate in Lebanon.
Read any statement from the Palestinian resistance. They are thankful and do consider it a win. Who are we to tell them otherwise? How can people who aren't risking their lives in this judge or even understand the strategies of those who are? Besides it's clear that the people on the ground won't stop here and won't demilitarize the south either, even if the rockets pause for a while.
Winning against is imperialism is surviving against it until the systemic forces cause its weakening and then it's overthrow. If Hezbollah is temporarily stopping to ensure survival to await further weakening, it's still a strategic position to have. It's one that can seem depressing, and can be called a battle loss, but we need to keep that in mind.
Imperialism will fall, and the contradictions are rising. Any battle loss needs to be analyzed as such and will be learned from to win the war.
