Israeli security agencies propose three options for response if Lebanon is used to launch new missile attacks

Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Mariella Succar

Israeli security agencies have presented three options to decision-makers for responding if Lebanon is again used to launch missile attacks on Israel. 

Tel Aviv has already ruled out allowing the region to become a battlefield for prolonged rocket warfare.

The first option is to maintain the existing equation of striking Beirut in response to every rocket fired at Israel. However, this approach lacks majority support as it risks dragging the region into a war of attrition.

The second option is a return to combat, starting with an expansion of the Israeli army's deployment and strengthening its five positions in Lebanon.

The third option, which has majority backing and aligns with the demands of local leaders from frontline towns, is to reestablish control over a buffer zone in Lebanon.

In a recommendation prepared by former security and military officials at the Alma Center, which specializes in assessing security conditions in northern Israel, two immediate steps were proposed regarding Lebanon:

A large-scale attack on Hezbollah targets in Beirut, similar to the strikes carried out in the southern suburbs in November last year.
A renewed assassination campaign, with a list of recommended targets that includes key political figures such as:
Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s secretary-general
Ali Daamouch, head of the Executive Council
Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc
Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, head of the Political Council
Mohammad Yazbek, head of the Judicial Council
Wafiq Safa, head of the Coordination and Liaison Unit

For military leadership, the center recommended targeting:
Muhammad Haydar, chief of staff
Haitham Ali Tabatabai, commander of the southern front
Talal Hamia, head of Unit 910

These recommendations risk reigniting conflict on the northern front at a time when Lebanese, French, and U.S. efforts are underway to achieve lasting calm and advance negotiations on the demarcation of the land border.