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On May 25, 2026, the Israeli military escalated strikes in southern Lebanon, with Benjamin Netanyahu ordering an intensified offensive to 'crush' Hezbollah even as Washington and Tehran sought to finalize a deal. Six national readings, from Western concern to the detached reading of the Gulf and Beijing.
On 25 May 2026, the Israeli military intensified its strikes in southern Lebanon. Benjamin Netanyahu officially declared he was « at war with Hezbollah » and ordered an escalation of the offensive, voicing the intent to « crush » the organization. Within his coalition, ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich publicly called for an even broader offensive, including strikes on Beirut and cutting off electricity to Lebanon.
This intensification comes despite a ceasefire that took effect around 17 April 2026, which never brought hostilities to a complete halt: exchanges of fire continued on a near-daily basis. Weakened since 2024, Hezbollah has kept using fiber-optic drones against Israeli positions.
The escalation unfolds against the backdrop of talks between the United States and Iran held in parallel in Doha, whose outcome would partly determine the stabilization of the Lebanese front. The sequence thus serves as a test of Washington's capacity to apply pressure on Tehran and restraint on Tel Aviv at once, two goals that the military dynamic tends to make hard to reconcile.
Several readings of the event compete. Some actors view the intensification as a response to domestic political pressures in Israel, tied to the coalition and the September elections, while others see a strategic-military decision in reaction to Hezbollah's drones. The real significance of Ben Gvir and Smotrich's demands is also disputed: portrayed by some as a major political signal, they are downplayed by others who note that Netanyahu rejected them, maintaining, according to Israeli sources, a logic of graduated escalation.
« Beijing reads the Israeli escalation in Lebanon as driven by far-right ministers who resist Washington and demand a full return to war,… »
« London watches with concern Israel's escalation in Lebanon: Netanyahu orders intensified strikes against Hezbollah, threatening to inflame… »
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