What happens when Israel achieves its goals in operation against Hezbollah: Expert's opinion
Illustrative photo: Israel begins operation against Hezbollah (Getty Images)
The success of Israeli forces in southern Lebanon as part of their operation against Hezbollah will provide Israel with a few years of respite. However, Iran may reestablish its armed groups, states politician, historian, and diplomat Roman Bezsmertnyi in a comment to the RBC-Ukraine YouTube channel.
"If we talk about Hamas and Hezbollah, I would say that if Israel achieves its goal, it will have a respite of 10-15 years. But no more, I'm sorry. Because the discussions surrounding the current situation in the Middle East do not address the key issue," Bezsmertnyi believes.
In his opinion, as long as Iran's policies remain unchanged, Israel must be prepared 24 hours a day for the possibility of war.
"It may not start due to the active actions of Hamas. Perhaps, after a while, it won't be due to the active actions of Hezbollah either. There are jihadists in Syria, some in Egypt. There are also the Houthis, who belong to Iran's proxy forces. Ultimately, it wouldn't be difficult for the Iranian IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) to acquire a few more similar proxy forces and equip them with such, or even a greater number of missile systems, rockets, and drones," the expert explained.
In his view, what Israel is doing today deserves respect. After all, it is one of the only states and its leadership that truly understands what they are dealing with.
"They are well aware that whoever it is—Yahya Sinwar or Hassan Nasrallah—they are puppets, or have been, in the hands of the fundamentalist regime in Iran. Therefore, either Israel achieves as thorough a dismantling of these terrorist organizations as possible, or the citizens of Israel will constantly live under the threat of a terrorist attack similar to that of October 7 of last year," he emphasized.
However, Bezsmertnyi is concerned about discussions surrounding how correctly or incorrectly Israel is acting.
"Israel is defending itself. It understands that Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, jihadists, and ISIS are all terrorist organizations. They have no right to exist. If any political forces or states decide to wait until terrorism comes to their territory, it will cost them and their society very dearly," he noted.
What preceded this
In recent weeks, the number of skirmishes between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran, has increased. Specifically, on Saturday, September 28, the IDF conducted an airstrike on Lebanese territory, resulting in the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
On the night of October 1, the IDF began ground raids in southern Lebanon as part of the operation against Hezbollah.
