With a dramatic sweep of his cape and a flash of his wand, the assistant vanishes—only for everyone to see her sprinting behind the stage while the audience is expected to cheer.

That’s essentially what the Lebanese army has done, declaring that it has disarmed south of the Litani River “in an effective and tangible way.” Like a polite audience member, Israel responded: “An encouraging beginning, but far from sufficient.”

Hezbollah, for its part, is happy to play along with the illusion. The group knows that openly reemerging right now would be suicidal. But as everyone can see, the terror group hasn’t gone anywhere. Reports suggest Hezbollah has received around $1 billion in funding since the cease-fire, and however slow its recovery, the trajectory is unmistakably upward.