The 2023 Israel-Hezbollah conflict broke out in October 2023 when the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah launched guided rockets and artillery shells at Israeli-occupied positions in Shebaa Farms at the same time as Hamas' Operation Al-Aqsa Flood offensive in southern Israel. Israel retaliated with airstrikes and artillery strikes on Hezbollah positions in South Lebanon, resulting in an escalating intensity of shelling from both sides. The intensification of cross-border artillery strikes led to the displacement of 96,000 Israeli civilians and 1 million Lebanese civilians. In September 2024, the conflict morphed into the Third Lebanon War as Israel shifted its focus from the Gaza Strip to Lebanon, following up on an air campaign with a ground offensive.
History[]
Hezbollah shelling[]
On the morning of 8 October 2023, Hezbollah fired rockets and shells at the Shebaa Farms region. The Israel Defense Forces responded by firing artillery shells and a drone into South Lebanon; two Lebanese children were injured by broken glass. On 9 October, Israeli planes struck the towns of Marwahin, Ayta ash-Shab, and Dhayra as Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants infiltrated the Israeli border; two Palestinian militants were killed and one wounded, while a fourth returned to Lebanon. During the clashes, two Israeli soldiers and Lt. Col. Alim Abdallah were killed by enemy fire on the border. On 10 October, the two sides again exchanged fire, and, on 11 October, Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli military positions, leading to the IDF shelling the area. On 13 October 2023, continued Hezbollah rocket strikes resulted in Israeli retaliatory airstrikes. On 14 October, three Hamas infiltrators were killed at Margaliot. Over the next several days, Hezbollah launched anti-tank missiles at Israel, killing civilians, while the IDF returned fire and killed both journalists and Hezbollah militants. On 16 October 2023, Israel controversially employed white phosphorus against Hezbollah at Dhayra. By 26 October, Hezbollah announced the eliminating of 35 Hezbollah squads since the beginning of the fighting, and, a day later, a Lebanese Army convoy came under fire from Israeli forces in Aitaroun, while 28 October saw shelling injure a Nepalese UN peacekeeper in Hula.
By 31 October, Reuters reported that Hezbollah was working to step its losses as its prepared for the possibility of a drawn-out conflict with Israel, as Hezbollah had already lost 47 fighters, a fifth of the number killed in the Second Lebanon War of 2006. With most of its fighters killed in Israeli drone strikes in the rocky terrain and olive groves along the border, Hezbollah unveiled its surface-to-air missile capability for the first time, downing an Israeli drone on 29 October.
As Israel prepared to launch its "Operation Iron Swords" counteroffensive into the Gaza Strip, many Western analysts theorized that an Israeli invasion of Gaza could potentially lead to a wider regional conflict if Hezbollah invaded northern Israel, potentially with the support of Syria and Iran. On 1 November 2023, Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati said that time was of the essence in stopping the Gaza war from broadening to the wider Middle East, calling for a five-day humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza to allow for prisoner swaps and talks towards a permanent truce. By then, Hezbollah claimed to have carried out more than 105 strikes since 8 October, killed and wounded 120 Israeli soldiers, and destroyed 9 tanks, 2 APCs, 2 Humvees, 69 communication systems, 140 cameras, 17 jamming systems, 33 radars, and 27 intelligence systems. Israel responded by evacuating nearly 40 communities near the Lebanese border. By 2 November, IDF units began to hold military exercises on the Lebanese border in anticipation of a potential Hezbollah declaration of war on Israel at Hassan Nasrallah's planned 3 November speech.
Nasrallah's 3 November speech[]
Nasrallah's speech
On 3 November, Nasrallah gave a televised address as the IDF Northern Command was placed on high alert. Rather than issuing a declaration of all-out war, Nasrallah recalled the sociopolitical causes of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and Hezbollah's previous escalation against Israel, saying that Hezbollah had already become involved in the conflict on 8 October, and that Hezbollah's actions had forced Israel to redeploy a third of its army (including elite forces), half of its air force, half of its Iron Dome defenses, a third of its air force, and a third of its logistics to the Lebanese border; that Israel had been forced to evacuate tens of thousands of "illegal settlers" and 43 settlements; and that Israel had been placed under a state of panic that forced the Israeli government to calculate its moves towards Lebanon.
Hezbollah militants listening to Nasrallah's speech
While reiterating that an all-out escalation of Hezbollah's operations was a very real possibility, Nasrallah said, "Any escalation and any development are hinged on two things: nothing more than the development of events in Gaza and the demeanor of the Zionist enemy towards Lebanon," and that, "If you think to assault Lebanon or take a preemptive strike against Lebanon, it will be the greatest act of foolishness in your existence.” Nasrallah also threatened tit-for-tat retaliation for civilian casualties, saying, "Once again, I warn you not to go further, as many civilians have fallen as martyrs, and this will bring us to the same equation: a civilian for a civilian. I am speaking openly, candidly, and, at the same time, with constructive ambiguity. All scenarios are open on our Lebanese southern front."
Nasrallah also addressed the United States for dispatching naval forces to threaten Hezbollah with bombardment in the case of escalation: "Your naval fleets in the Mediterranean will not, and cannot, cause us to fear. To you, I openly and candidly say that, for your fleet that you are using as a threat, we have prepared for them what it takes. You Americans remember your defeats in Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and your humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan. Those who defeated you in Lebanon in the early 1980s are still alive, backed and supported by their children and grandchildren. If the US and Western politics are calling for steering away from escalation, this cannot be achieved by threats against honest, noble resistance fighters defending the defenseless." Nasrallah concluded the speech by saying, "We will meet soon to celebrate the victory of Gaza, the Gazans, and the resistance fighters in Gaza." Nasrallah's main point was to warn that the only way for Israel and the West to avert a regional war was to cease their war on Gaza, while saying of Hezbollah's strategy of daily bombardments: "it will not be the end, this will not be sufficient," and that any escalation of Hezbollah attacks on Israel would be in response to developments in Gaza. He also began his speech by asserting that "Al-Aqsa Flood" was an entirely Palestinian operation, and that no outside forces compelled them to act.
Cross-border attacks continued into the last months of 2023, and, on 24 December, Israel killed senior IRGC general Razi Mousavi in an airstrike on Damascus. Israel's assassination campaign continued into January, killing Hamas' deputy political leader Saleh al-Arouri in an airstrike in Beirut and Hezbollah's senior commander Wissam al-Tawil. From October 2023 to February 2024, the UN recorded 7,948 incidents of artillery fire from Israel into Lebanon and 978 incidents of artillery fire from Lebanon into Israel. Significant escalation occurred in July 2023 with the assassination of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, which led to Hezbollah attempting to launch retaliatory strikes in August. In September, Israel shifted its focus from Gaza to Lebanon, killing and injuring thousands by detonating rigged pagers and launching Operation Arrows of the North to destroy Hezbollah's leadership and infrastructure. Within a week, Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and most high-ranking members of his group had been killed, and, on 30 September, Israel initiated a ground offensive that escalated the previous border clashes into all-out war.
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