Battle for Bint Jbail
According to press reports (here and here), Bint Jbail, a town and road junction in southeastern Lebanon, is the site of what appears to be a pitched battle between the Israeli Defense Force and Hezbollah militiamen. The engagement is important for two reasons.
Bint Jbail isn’t just another Lebanese town. It’s the unofficial capital of Hezbollah in the south, one of the sites where Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah celebrated the withdrawal of the Israelis in 2000. Hezbollah leaders may have felt compelled to defend the place against the Israelis. For the same reasons, along with its proximity to the Israeli border, the IDF probably was probably eager to have a go at the place. The fact that the fighting, according to the reports, is heavy, from the Israeli point of view, is probably a good thing. I suspect that the IDF would much prefer to engage Hezbollah as close to the border as possible, rather than to have to drive deeply into Lebanon in a pursuit that might turn out to be a repeat of the 1982 invasion.
