World Citizen: Gaza Operation Guided by Mistakes of 2006 Lebanon War

World Citizen: Gaza Operation Guided by Mistakes of 2006 Lebanon War

Since the moment Israel decided to launch a major military campaign against Hamas to stop rocket attacks from Gaza, the experience of the 2006 war against Hezbollah has served as a template of all that could go wrong. Like this conflict, the 2006 war came after a serious provocation by a radical Islamic group whose stated aim is the destruction of Israel. As in this war, the 2006 war presented Israel with the moral and tactical challenge of fighting a force that targets Israeli civilians, yet hides among its own population and cries foul when non-combatants are killed.

The war against Hezbollah is generally viewed as a disaster for Israel. The challenge for Israeli military and political officials now is to avoid a similar outcome to those 33 days of combat across the Israel-Lebanon border.

To understand some of what drives Israel's strategy, and to get a sense of what lies ahead, it is illuminating to look at the specific lessons Israel drew from the mistakes of 2006.

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