Lebanon: Why Should This Time Be Any Different

​French President Emmanuel Macron recently stated that the “situation is critical” in Lebanon, citing Israel’s ongoing military campaign against Hezbollah. However, this ignores the history of failed agreements. Since November 2024, the Lebanese government – backed by the US, France, and three other interlocutors – has been committed to disarming Hezbollah. This was the core of the document President Biden claimed was “designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” featuring five-nation monitoring and 5,000-8,000 Lebanese troops as boots on the ground to ensure no Hezbollah presence south of the Litani River.

​President Macron criticized Israel’s actions, stating that “occupying southern Lebanon isn’t the right response.” One must ask: what is the right response? Should Israel simply agree to the same unworkable ceasefire formulas and hope for a different result? Would France be so restrained if terrorists were raining missiles down on Calais or Lille?

​Similarly, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper described Israel’s response to the 6,000+ missiles fired since October 8, 2023, as “deeply damaging.” Would she maintain that same perspective if civilian targets in Manchester or Liverpool were the ones under fire?

​European leaders seem to suggest that Israel is the “destabilizing factor” for refusing a ceasefire, yet they offer no real solution for dismantling Hezbollah. History shows that Israel has agreed to numerous ceasefires overseen by international guarantees, only for Hezbollah to break them every time with rockets and drones. The hard lesson of October 7 is that Israel can no longer afford to sit on its hands or seek “proportional responses” that achieve nothing.

​We have seen this before. In 2006, UN Resolution 1701 ended the war by requiring Hezbollah to disarm and move north of the Litani. A series of ceasefires ensued over the next two decades and each ultimately failed. On March 2, 2026, yet another ceasefire collapsed when Iran directed its proxy to enter the battle. Israel did not initiate this; it responded to it.

​Even Gulf states reportedly expressed frustration that Israel did not eliminate Hezbollah in 2024. The reality is that since the Six-Day War, Israel has never been allowed to actually win a war. A 60-day ceasefire today would likely serve only one purpose: allowing Hamas and Hezbollah to rebuild their tunnels and replenish their arsenals.

​Critics like Bernie Sanders frequently mourn the displacement of Lebanese civilians while remaining silent on the tens of thousands of Iranians slaughtered by their own regime. Obviously, there’s no mention of the thousands of Israelis living under constant missile barrages. While the media is quick to condemn rhetoric from Western leaders, they remain curiously silent regarding Tehran’s 47-year campaign of rhetoric calling for the obliteration of the “Little Satan.”

​It is time for leaders like Macron, Cooper, and Sanders to direct their anger and criticism toward the actual sources of instability: Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.