Fall 2017 JPI

and invaded Lebanon again in 1982 under Operation Peace for Galilee, leading to the exile of the
Palestinian nationalist leader Yasir Arafat and his followers to Tunisia. 16 To the detriment of
Lebanon’s sovereign power, Israel continued to disrupt the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), which
held disputed control over southern Lebanon. Following offensives by Israeli forces, Hezbollah
militants carried out an incursion into Israeli territory in 2006, killing eight Jewish soldiers and
capturing two others in an action that set fire to the latent conflict. 17 The turbulent events led to the
2006 Second Lebanon War, an asymmetric armed confrontation between the Israeli Defense Forces
(IDF) and the armed Shiite organization Hezbollah.
HEZBOLLAH IN THE BLUE LINE
The Islamic Revolution in 1979 strengthened Hezbollah, which had, from 1982, become a
leading organization in Lebanon with a military branch linked to Shiite interests intent on challenging
Israel. Since 1985, Lebanon has been exposed to the designs of Hezbollah, considered the main
operational insurgent movement on Lebanese soil with undisputed military power and social influence
in the country. 18 Hezbollah has epitomized the triumph of an insurgent organization by becoming a
social movement that has evolved into the form of a state. 19 Iran considers Hezbollah a spearhead in
the battle against Israel. The geostrategic location of Lebanon and its turbulent political situation
allows the shipment of arms, with Syrian consent, to the Hezbollah units operating on the border of
Israel. 20 The group is also characterized by its desire to maintain a chaotic situation so as to disrupt
the Lebanese Government’s work when outcomes are not favorable. Hezbollah could be considered
a movement that emerges in a state (Lebanon), with the help of other states (Syria and Iran), to fight
against other states (Israel and the US) 21 . Hezbollah’s emergence is, ultimately, a clear nexus between
the process of disintegration of Lebanon’s state and the privatization of violence within the region--a
privatization of violence that has taken place mainly through Hezbollah’s insurgent activities within
the Blue Line.
The Blue Line border was created in 2000 with the mandate of “confirming Israel's withdrawal
from southern Lebanon” and “restoring peace and international security,” 22 thus assisting the
government of Lebanon in reestablishing its effective authority in the area. 23,24,25 Yet, the line does not
constitute a border in the technical sense of law. The period between 2001-2006 was relatively calm
along the Blue Line and UNIFIL troops were reduced to a minimum (200 peacekeepers). 26 However,
16 Gema Martín Muñoz, “El Conflicto De Oriente Próximo: La Cosecha De Un Año.” Política Exterior 20, no. 114 (2006): 111,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20645999.
17 Rebekah Lynam, Maureen Taylor, and Peter Gade, “Newspaper Frames of Hizbullah: Uni Dimensional Framing of a Multi-Dimensional
Organization,” International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center, EBSCOhost. Journal of Middle East Media 12 (2016): 75.
18 Anthony H Cordesman, “Lebanese Security and the Hezbollah,” Center for Strategic and International Studies (2006),
http://file.setav.org/Files/Pdf/lebanese-security-and-the-hezbollah---anthony-cordesman---csis-report-2006.pdf
19 Steven Metz, “Rethinking insurgency / Steven Metz,” Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College, Government Printing Office
Catalog, EBSCOhost, (2007): 6.
20 Rebekah Lynam, Maureen Taylor, and Peter Gade, “Newspaper Frames of Hizbullah: Uni Dimensional Framing of a Multi-Dimensional
Organization,” International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center, EBSCOhost. Journal of Middle East Media 12 (2016): 68.
21 Ídem, Pg. 75.
22 S/RES/425, S/RES/426
23 “Israel-Lebanon” (S/RES/425), United Nations, Approved March 19, 1978. Accessed December 12, 2017.
http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/425(1978)
24 “Israel-Lebanon” (S/RES/426), United Nations, Approved March 19, 1978. Accessed December 12, 2017.
http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/425(1978)
25 Greg Breining, “The Thin Blue Line,” In Wild Shore: Exploring Lake Superior by Kayak, University of Minnesota Press, (2000): 2,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.ctttv2b0.4.
26 “Approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017” (A/C.5/70/24), United Nations General
Assembly. Approved June 22, 2016. Accessed December 10, 2017. http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/C.5/70/24
JPI Fall 2017, pg. 30