Everywhere in the world it seems there is talk about the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. It will probably take several days for this to subside. When it does, there will/should be an opportunity to reach a cease-fire and hostage return agreement.
If that happens, it’s important to remember that this entire confrontation was the work of Iran via proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. Any crying about humanitarian suffering and deaths needs to be blamed on them (and ONLY on them).
Right now, Hezbollah is still in shock. They still have a lot of military capability (which needs to be removed). The Arab world needs to see alternatives to Shiite extremism (Radical Islam). One bright sign of hope has been Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblat. He supported Nasrallah since October 8th, but now has stopped. And everyone needs to stop paying Hamas for continuing their war. That means having a very strict control on aid distribution (take it out of the hands of Hamas puppet, UNRWA).
The UN also needs to stop treating the 1949 cease-fire line as if it were a border. It is not, and never was. It is useful as a basis for negotiations (which must also mow include putting Palestinian refugees under the UNHCR and doing away with UNRWA, and leaving the status of Jerusalem out of future negotiations. Would anyone seriously consider a claim by Mexico that Washington, DC, is its capital?) The end of a conflict does NOT mean completely restoring the status quo ante.
The Six Day War of 1967 took place because Egypt (their claim) thought that Israel could not survive a long war. Many Arab leaders still thought so until now. The results of that error include the lives and livelihood of many thousands of people.
The Jewish New Year is almost upon us. May the entire world enjoy a Happy and prosperous New Year.
Wetherhorn 