Netanyahu invades Lebanon: only two outcomes are possible

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, has launched his invasion of Lebanon. As usual in the opening stages of Israeli incursions into that fragile country, the signs and portents look good for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

Thousands of Hezbollah’s senior and mid-level leaders have been killed or maimed by the Mossad intelligence agency and the IDF has destroyed a significant portion of the organisation’s huge missile inventory in their launch sites. Iran’s gesture of support for Hezbollah...