Middle East & Africa | History repeating

Hizbullah seems to have miscalculated in its fight with Israel

But neither side would gain from a ruinous and pointless war

Buildings damaged by Israeli warplanes in Beirut, Lebanon
Photograph: Bilal Jawich/ Xinhua/ Eyevine
|DUBAI AND JERUSALEM

WARLORDS are not known for their remorse, but Hassan Nasrallah offered some in 2006, weeks after a war that killed more than 1,100 Lebanese. The fighting began when Hizbullah, the Shia militia and political party he leads, abducted two Israeli soldiers in a raid. Mr Nasrallah said he was surprised by the ferocity of the response and called the raid a mistake. “If I had known…that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not,” he told an interviewer.

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This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “History repeating”

From the September 28th 2024 edition

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