Daily Times

On Wednesday Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant gloated to international media how his country was well-equipped to send neighbouring Lebanon back to the Stone Age. He said so not from the comfort of a government building in Tel Aviv but during his trip to the US. Similar claims previously echoed from his rival party whose central leadership wished to send Gaza back to the Stone Age.

Just one look at the heart-shattering images from the Palestinian enclave – battered, ravaged and razed to the ground – is enough to prove their dedication to this cause. With tension between Israel and Lebanon escalating to dangerous levels, the humanitarian agencies are ringing shrill alarm bells about the catastrophic implications, not just for the two countries involved but for the entire region.

On the face of it, Israel’s brazen attempt to spread chaos in Lebanon on the heels of spelling the largest human tragedy in recent history should be condemned as a gross violation of international law. Does the world really need one more instance of how the use of military force can lead to widespread destruction, loss of life, and untold suffering for ordinary people, this time in Lebanon?

It would further destabilize an already volatile region and could potentially draw in other countries, leading to a wider and even uglier war. Notwithstanding the border skirmishes, Israeli forces have used the existence of Hezbollah as an extremely convenient excuse to quench their thirst for more bloodshed, especially since October 7. Calls for a ceasefire and immediate restoration of aid supplies for the affectees continue to fall on deaf ears as the Netanyahu Administration is hell-bent on spreading the flames as far as it can. To make the situation more problematic, it expects the world to hold pom-poms for the entire blood-curdling show.

That all parties involved must prioritize de-escalation and diplomacy cannot be stressed enough. However, mediation by international bodies has so far failed to prevent any escalation. There’s no denying that dialogue and negotiations remain the only way to resolve the underlying issues against the outbreak of full-scale conflict but some extraordinary measures are required to push an unwilling bully to the deliberation table. *