Netanyahu’s Decision to Accept a Ceasefire with Hezbollah

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military invasion of Lebanon in October 2006 aimed to allow over 60,000 northern Israelis displaced by Hezbollah rockets to return to their homes.

• He accepted a ceasefire with Hezbollah two months later, stating that the withdrawals would take 60 days.

• Netanyahu believed the ceasefire would allow Israel to focus more on Iran, resupply its own forces, and isolate Hamas in the ongoing Gaza war.

• Israel’s heavy blows to Hezbollah included explosions across Lebanon, massive bombings, and forced decoupling of Lebanon from Gaza.

• Despite the ceasefire, Israel failed to meet its objectives in Lebanon, resulting in minimal territorial gains and failure to destroy or deter Hezbollah’s rocket capabilities.

• Hezbollah fired over 250 rockets into Israel, including a private residence of Prime Minister Netanyahu and a military base in Binyamina.

• Israel also suffered heavy casualties, with 35 soldiers lost in southern Lebanon in October alone.

• The UNSC Resolution 1701 demanded a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon and Hezbollah from the south, but the latest ceasefire agreement is rooted in Resolution 1701.

• Despite the ceasefire, Hezbollah has weakened but is far from defeated, and expecting the Lebanese army to enforce it would be myopic.