The Current Crisis
Expansion of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict into Lebanon
Thecurrent conflict between Israeland the Lebanese Shiite Muslim group Hizbollah and the radical PalestinianHamas organization is fundamentally linked to two distinct cross- borderattacks carried out by Hamas and Hizbollah operatives on Israel. On June 25, 2006, members of theHamas military wing (Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades), the Popular ResistanceCommittees, and the previously unknown Army of Islam attacked Israeli forces,just outside of the Gaza Strip, killing two Israeli soldiers, wounding four,and kidnapping one. Israellaunched a massive military assault on Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip in aneffort to secure the captured soldier’s release, resulting in widespreadinfrastructure damage and dozens of Palestinian…
