Are Lebanon, Syria ripe for peace with Israel or on cusp of more escalation?
While some Israeli leaders hope for normalized ties with Lebanon and Syria, others warn that the uncertainty of the current situation could become permanent or deteriorate.
TEL AVIV — Truth be told, negotiations on demarcating the border between Israel and Lebanon and the four-month-old ceasefire deal between the two countries have not restored calm to northern Israel. In this transitional period, not only have cross-border rocket attacks by Hezbollah continued and Israeli air raids resumed, Israeli forces have also clashed with gunmen in southern Syria. In addition, the Israeli military is settling into positions it has assumed in recent months in southern Lebanon and the Israel-Syria buffer zone and Golan Heights, allowing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ostensibly claim to be the first Israeli premier to expand the country's borders — at least temporarily.
Skirmishes continue
Daily skirmishes continue as Israelis in the north trickle uncertainly back to homes they were forced to abandon when Hezbollah intensified attacks in October 2023, in solidarity with Hamas after the Palestinian group's incursion into southern Israel.
In the first significant breach of the Israel-Lebanese ceasefire agreement, at least six rockets were fired March 22 from southern Lebanon at the Israeli town of Metula. Three of them fell short of the border, and Israeli air defenses intercepted three others. Today, two rockets were fired toward Israel, one falling short of the border and the other being intercepted. Israel responded to both attacks with air strikes on Hezbollah targets, and today, also called on the residents of a few buildings in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, to evacuate, signaling that they are too close to Hezbollah infrastructure, which the army might be targeting.
