Threat of Mutually Assured Destruction Right on Israel’s Doorstep

MAJD-AL-ZOUN, Lebanon—“If we went to an all-out war, it would be the end of both Lebanon and Israel,” said a Hezbollah fighter in the battlefields of South Lebanon ominously.

While some in Iran and Israel seem hellbent on escalating the current Middle East conflict, the normally aggressive Hezbollah militia has been notably reticent to use its heavier weaponry and missiles in the aftermath of Oct. 7. That puts the militants—who themselves are heavily-funded by Iran—in a notably different position to their backers in Tehran, who launched an unprecedented aerial assault on Israel at the weekend.

The Daily Beast was granted rare access to Hezbollah controlled towns on the Lebanese-Israeli border shortly before that attack, and the difference in attitudes was stark.

Read more at The Daily Beast.