Hezbollah Reels Under Israeli PressureIsrael continues to escalate against Hezbollah in Lebanon, jeopardizing the ceasefire brokered by the United States last November.The ceasefire was supposed to end the confrontation that broke when Hezbollah began launching attacks against the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in support of Hamas in the Gaza Strip a day after the surprise attack on Israel on October 7 of 2023. Israel, however, continued to launch strikes against the group and kept troops in five posts in southern Lebanon.The IDF escalated its operations against Hezbollah in recent weeks, launching on March 28 its first strike against the Lebanese capital, Beirut, since the ceasefire entered into effect. Israel said that the strike was a response to two rockets that were launched from Lebanon at the settlement of Kiryat Shmona earlier in the day, although Hezbollah had denied responsibility.The strike hit a building used by Hezbollah’s drone unit in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, according to the IDF.Hezbollah refrained from responding, but this was not apparently enough to avoid further escalation by Israel.The IDF struck the southern suburbs of Beirut again on April 1, this time killing Hassan Bdair, a senior commander of Hezbollah. Three other people were killed in the strike.Bdair was allegedly a member of Hezbollah’s Unit 3900 and of the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.Hezbollah again showed restraint, but to no avail. An Israeli strike hit the coastal Lebanese city of Sidon early on April 4, killing Hassan Farhat, the commander of Hamas forces in the western sector of Lebanon. At least two other people were killed. The IDF said at the time that Farhat advanced “numerous attacks” on Israeli civilians and troops.Israel escalated further on April 7, killing Muhammad Adnan Mansour, the commander of a local Hezbollah rocket unit in a strike on the southern Lebanese area of Taybeh. The next day, April 8, the IDF launched a strike against an alleged air defense depot of Hezbollah close to the northeastern Lebanese city of Baalbek.As a result of Israeli pressure, a senior Hezbollah official told Reuters on April 8 that the group was ready to hold talks with the Lebanese president about its weapons if the IDF withdraws from southern Lebanon and stops its strikes.This was not, however, good enough for Israel, which on April 9 accused Hezbollah of rebuilding a weapons manufacturing site in Beirut. The accusation is clearly meant to justify further escalation, including the renewal of attacks on the Lebanese capital.All in all, the future of Hezbollah appears to be in limbo. With no way to deter Israel, the group could reorganize its forces on a much smaller scale, or even move away from the Iran-led Axis of Resistance.https://southfront.press/hezbollah-reels-under-israeli-pressure/