Talmiz Ahmad, one of India’s foremost experts on West Asia and a former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE has said that Israel wants to “decimate, annihilate and decapitate” Hezbollah and inflict “maximum possible damage” on it. However, Ahmad does not believe that Israel is “enthusiastic” about a ground offensive. He believes the statements made by the Israeli Army Chief, Lt. General Halevi, are a form of posturing and cannot be taken at face value.
In a 33-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Ahmad argues that Israel’s intention is to inflict damage on Lebanese civilians to such an extent that they turn against Hezbollah and, therefore, push Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon, possibly north of the Litani River.
Whilst accepting that the exploding pagers and walkie-talkies have inflicted a serious blow on Hezbollah, something their leader Hassan Nasrallah has admitted, Ahmad says Hezbollah is a resilient organisation which will reform and re-establish its strength. He says Hezbollah has suffered a worse attack in 2006 and recovered and he believes it will recover its strength again.
