Earlier this week, there was a large explosion in southern Lebanon about 10 km from the Israeli border. UNIFIL officials said that the blast was likely from a Hizballah weapons deposit and could constitute a breach of UNSC resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 War between Hizballah and Israel.
This week marks the three year anniversary of the start of the war.
Hizballah agents were allegedly on scene before UNIFIL and LAF forces showed up. Israel claims that the explosion is evidence that Hizballah is rearming itself with help from Iran and Syria. Hizballah claims that the explosion was from one of the thousands of unexploded cluster bombs that Israel dropped on Lebanon as the war winded down.
The news of the explosion this week comes as Israel is announcing successful preliminary test of its “Iron Dome” ballistic missile shield. The shield is designed to shoot down missiles and rockets in the air.
During the 2006 War, Hizballah launched thousands of rockets into Israeli territory, exposing a key vulnerability in Israel’s defenses. The Iron Dome shield will initially be placed just outside Gaza to halt rocket attacks originating from the Palestinian territory.
If the shield is sufficiently effective, Hizballah will have to reevaluate its tactics for the future. This could possibly change the nature of the conflict with Israel to the point of escalation. In this event, Hizballah will have to become more and more sophisticated in its weaponry, which in turn will cause the group to become more dependent on Iran and Syria for its weapons.
At the moment, there is a fragile stability between the Middle eastern states, and the last thing that this region needs is an arms race between Hizballah and Israel. However, between Israel’s ballistic missile shield and the explosion of an alleged Hizballah weapons depot, it is clear that these two sides at least are preparing for war.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
