September 23, 2024- Americans for Peace Now is extremely concerned by the escalation of military hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. For almost a full year Hezbollah has been firing rockets into the north of Israel, leaving tens of thousands displaced from their homes. Last week’s massive pager attack and the subsequent bombings deep into Lebanon have killed hundreds and wounded thousands. And today, Hezbollah is firing rockets deep into Israel while Israel has now again bombed Beirut. Millions of people, men, women and children, on both sides of the border, are looking for shelter and living in fear.

The failures in Gaza, the failure to bring the hostages home, the failure to defeat Hamas, and the failure to fight this war without killing tens of thousands and creating a humanitarian disaster have led Netanyahu to escalate on Israel’s northern front in order to distract from the failures in the south.

Both Netanyahu and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah are focused on their own political survival. And both seem to only speak the language of aggression and revenge. Yet the only road to a better future for Israelis, Palestinians, and Lebanese remains a ceasefire, the return of the hostages and the beginning of negotiations to finally end this conflict.

“Having served in the IDF in Lebanon in the 1990s, I know firsthand that the idea of reoccupying the so-called security zone is a failure waiting to happen, and one that, if it goes forward, will be paid for in additional blood,” said APN President and CEO Hadar Susskind. “The Biden administration and other world leaders must do everything possible to rein in the Israeli government and Hezbollah before this powder keg detonates.”