One might ask why Hezbollah, an internationally recognized terrorist organization, would keep all of their missiles below a civilian hospital. The reason…the Israeli ideology to cherish the lives of innocent civilian population. Hezbollah knows that the Israelis will not attack a hospital because they refuse to take the risk of killing innocent civilians. This was one of the many fascinating topics Kobi Marom, an IDF reserve colonel, taught us on our tour of the Israel-Lebanon border.
Kobi began his lecture by introducing the history of the topic. The First Lebanon war was started with the goal to end PLO terrorism from Lebanon. After the short war in 1982 the IDF occupied about 6 miles in southern Lebanon until 2000. During these 18 years they were constantly fighting Hezbollah terrorists.
After the withdrawal from Lebanon, Hezbollah assumed this was a sign of Israeli weakness. After the withdrawal there were constant attacks from Hezbollah. To prevent this the Israelis had to show resistance and deference against Hezbollah. This led to the Second Lebanese War. During the Second Lebanon War the Israelis destroyed over 20,000 Hezbollah missiles, located very close to then Israeli border.
Hezbollah and the country of Lebanon are heavily influenced by Iran; culturally and economically. Hezbollah is supported by the Iranians with weapons supplies and money. Iran also assists the Lebanese people economically and with educational assistance. According to Kobi, “when the leader of Iran visits Lebanon they treat him like a God, the Lebanese people are dependent on Iran in order to survive.” The Iranians use Lebanon as ‘their puppet’. The Lebanese are dependent on the services of the Iranians; therefore in a time of war the Lebanese will be forced do what ever the Iranians say. This worries Israelis including Kobi because if Iran is attacked they could respond using the power of Hezbollah.
The fact that the lives of civilians are used to protect Hezbollah missiles is the disgusting reality of the situation. The Israeli devotion to human rights is sadly taken advantage of by the Hezbollah terrorists. This story, told at the start of our Sunday tour, impacted ICNEXT cohort 2 more than any other lesson that day.