Selective Outrage: When Hezbollah Attacks

 by Majid Rafizadeh  •  April 18, 2026

For full article go to https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22447/selective-outrage-hezbollah

• The latest escalation in hostilities did not begin with Israel. It began with Hezbollah.
• Israel found itself faced with ongoing rocket fire from Lebanon and the presence of a heavily armed group on its border – in contravention of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which had unanimously required of Lebanon: "three principles -- no foreign forces, no weapons for nongovernmental militias, and no independent authority separate from the central government -- as vital to a lasting Lebanese peace."
• Hezbollah's operational tactics, like those of Hamas and other terrorist groups, is to embed its military infrastructure within civilian areas — hiding weapons, command centers and operational assets in densely populated neighborhoods.... With Hezbollah's military targets located in homes, hospitals and schools within civilian population centers, any efforts to neutralize them carry the tragic possibility of unavoidably harming civilians. It is a strategy deliberately designed to constrain Israel's responses and generate international backlash against it.
• Responsibility for these war crimes lies squarely with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, which deliberately orchestrated them. Any resulting casualties cannot be judged outside this context.
• In 2024, Hezbollah violated its ceasefire with Israel and also attacked in 2025 at Iran's behest. Israel's response comports with what any sovereign state would do when confronted with attacks on its territory and civilian population.
• If there is to be any meaningful discussion about stability in the Middle East, it needs to begin with an honest acknowledgment of these realities. Otherwise, international reactions will continue to mischaracterize the problem by criticizing responses while overlooking their causes -- and contributing to the conflict rather than to its resolution.