PrintAmid the intensification of the conflict between Israel and the broader 'axis of resistance', particularly on the Lebanon front, there is naturally much talk of the prospect of 'victory' on both sides. It is also the case that the concept of victory risks becoming poorly defined or over-expanded. On the Israeli side, it is fair to question whether the war goals in Lebanon have become muddled and unduly expanded from a more limited and clear aim of deterring Hezbollah strikes on Israel and forcing the group to decouple its demands for ceasefire from the Gaza front, to a far greater goal of essentially destroying Hezbollah. This goal of destroying Hezbollah appeared to be the messaging conveyed by Netanyahu's speech on Lebanon. On a more popular level, overreach is arguably reflected in discourse about 'liberating' Lebanon and potentially 'remaking the Middle East' through the Lebanon campaign.
But it is also fair to question the nature of 'victory' on the axis of resistance side. That the short-term goal is to get Israel to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza is clear, and there is no doubt that if Israel were to make such a concession, it could be spun as a 'victory' in the propaganda of Hamas and its allies. But then what? How would the long-term goal of trying to eliminate Israel be advanced and realised? While Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad boasted shortly after the 7 October assault that Hamas would seek to conduct similar attacks again and again in the goal of removing Israel, the fact is that a repetition of that assault is extremely unlikely.
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