United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was clear at a press conference: the world “cannot afford for Lebanon to become another Gaza.”
Many prominent Israeli figures seem to want just that, drawing straight lines between Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon to emphasize the threat they pose and justify attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.
So, Hamas and Hezbollah are the same thing?
Not even a little bit.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah is part of a larger political and military mosaic. Although it plays a leading role in the country, it has no control over the presidency or parliament.
Unlike Gaza, Lebanon is present in international systems of governance and finance. Gaza’s and Hamas’s links to the international order are primarily through aid provided by organizations such as the UN.
Hamas, which has an effective military wing like Hezbollah, rules Gaza entirely and must maintain a functioning society and government structure.
Aren’t they both “proxies of Iran”?
They are allies, yes.
Israel has portrayed them as equal extensions of what is generally presented as Israel’s ultimate enemy: Iran.
Speaking to the US Congress in July, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was behind it all and that its “proxy” forces – Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen – posed an equal threat to Israel and, by extension, the West.
Both groups maintain strong alliances with Iran, but they are distinct from each other and their relations with Iran are evolving.
Hezbollah is more aligned with Iran’s regional goals, while Hamas enjoys Iranian support but is more independent.
Hamas broke off three-year ties with Iran in 2011 over its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and it does not appear to have warned Iran of its October 7 attack on Israel.
But they said both groups are using human shields?
To justify its widespread attacks on civilian areas, Israel has accused Hamas and Hezbollah of “hiding” their military equipment there.
Israel claims Hamas is hiding in or near schools, hospitals and homes in an attempt to justify the destruction of Gaza.
He also claims that Hamas is using UN facilities in Gaza as military fronts “in violation of the Geneva Convention.”
Israel has also targeted the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the only support for Palestinian refugee populations displaced during the 1948 Nakba ethnic cleansing by Zionist gangs.
Recently, Israel made similar claims about homes in southern Israel, saying they were being used by Hezbollah.
On Monday, Israel released images of what it said was a Hezbollah missile hidden in an attic in southern Lebanon, appearing to preempt criticism of its ongoing strikes.
Pointing to an image, an Israeli military spokesman said: “It is ready to be launched from an opening in the roof.
“Under the attic, on the first floor, lives a Lebanese family who act as a human shield.”
As we write, Israel has carried out thousands of strikes on homes across Lebanon.
But what about civilians?
In Gaza, Israel has shown little concern for human losses: it has bombed homes, displacement camps, hospitals and schools.
In Lebanon, Israel sent opaque “evacuation notices” to citizens of a foreign country ahead of strikes on targets that people may not know are nearby.
Paper notices, text messages and recorded phone calls have been cited by Israel as “evidence” that it is trying to avoid civilian casualties.
During a visit to a military base on Tuesday, Netanyahu told the Lebanese people: “Our war is not against you; our war is against Hezbollah,” urging the Lebanese people to rise up against the group.
As of this writing, more than 600 people have been killed in Lebanon in ongoing Israeli strikes and more than 2,000 have been injured.
Are people in Lebanon being displaced like in Gaza?
Yes.
Echoing the attack on Gaza, thousands of terrified Lebanese families fled southern Lebanon, joining the estimated 110,000 people who had fled earlier, seeking shelter wherever possible.
The total number of displaced people now stands at around 500,000, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Tuesday.
Some seek refuge in Palestinian refugee camps south of Beirut, such as Shatila, which have housed Palestinians fleeing Israeli attacks since the 1940s.
Others are crammed into air raid shelters, sleeping in cars or crowded into Beirut’s schools, which, unlike the UNRWA-run schools in Gaza, were never designed to double as shelters.
If Israel’s tactics are so different, why are they the same?
Because Israel needs a quick end and thinks it will work, said Yousef Munayyer of the Arab Center in Washington DC.
In Gaza, Hamas has survived a year of Israeli attacks by relying on its network of tunnels.
Hezbollah claims to have a vast network of tunnels in Lebanon containing a large amount of munitions, as shown in a video released in August.
Israel would have more difficulties in Lebanon, particularly because Hezbollah is stronger there.
“So they are using the same tactics that were used in Gaza,” Munayyer said. “This is part of an Israeli strategy to put a lot of pressure on Hezbollah.”
He said Israel hoped “to get out of this situation without a ground invasion, without a long battle” – and to avoid getting bogged down in Lebanon as it did in Gaza.
