(Sept. 4, 2025 / JNS) After the new school year began in Israel on Sept. 1, a fragile sense of normalcy is returning to the country’s northern border, with a Walla report on that day stating that some 76% of residents displaced by the war with Hezbollah have now returned to their homes. 

This return has been enabled not only by a massive degradation of Hezbollah’s capabilities during Operation Northern Arrows (Sept. to Nov. 2024), but also by a new and proactive Israeli security doctrine. This has seen the IDF strike Hezbollah targets almost daily, thwarting the Lebanese terror militia’s efforts to rebuild its capabilities.

In Beirut, meanwhile, the Lebanese government’s recent moves have been aimed at  Hezbollah’s disarmament, but this effort is undermined by a weak army, including its Shi’ite personnel, some of whom are complicit with Hezbollah. The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) is unable to force Hezbollah to disarm without triggering a civil war that it has no confidence of winning.