Tension on Israel-Lebanon Border Builds, Anticipating Hizbullah’s Next Move

Israel’s military planners are looking long and hard at Hizbullah, the Lebanon-based Iranian terror proxy that sits along Israel’s northern border with 130,000 missiles pointed into the Israeli heartland. Stung by the death of one of its fighters in an airstrike presumably carried out by Israel over the Syrian capital of Damascus last week, Hizbullah appears to be seeking a way to make good on its promises to punish Israel for such incidents but not bite off more than it cares to chew. In Israel, the Israel Defense Forces must anticipate a full response from Beirut. The IDF airstrike itself was a reciprocal move in response to several Hizbullah gunmen crossing into Israeli territory only to run away when IDF soldiers shot in their direction. The Lebanon-based gunmen notably failed to fire at the Israelis, leading analysts to ponder what appears to be a hesitation on the part of Hizbullah to act in a way that would cause a significant escalation.