Arminkh
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There was no clear goal when Israel started the war. They just started it and when things got tough, they held on to what they could get. Their original choices were either to exert a short and painful blow to Hezbollah or to change the realities in the south Lebanon. None of which materialized.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Lebanon_War
This is a report from within your own holy land!
Winograd Commission Report
Main article: Winograd Commission
According to the Winograd Commission Report, the Second Lebanon War was regarded as a "missed opportunity" and that "Israel initiated a long war, which ended without a defined military victory." The report continued to state that "a semi-military organization of a few thousand men resisted, for a few weeks, the strongest army in the Middle East, which enjoyed full air superiority and size and technology advantages." Furthermore, Hezbollah's rocket attacks continued throughout the war and the IDF did not provide an effective response to it. Following a long period of using standoff firepower and limited ground activities, the IDF launched a large-scale ground offensive close to the UN Security Council's resolution which imposed a cease-fire. "This offensive did not result in military gains and was not completed."
Later in the Report, the Commission stated that "[a] decision [was] made in the night of 12 July to react (to the capturing) with immediate and substantive military action and to set ... ambitious goals." This decision had immediate repercussions in that subsequent decisions were limited mainly to a choice between a) "a short, painful and unexpected blow on Hezbollah" and b) "to bring about a significant change of the reality in the South of Lebanon with a large ground operation,[occupying] ... the South of Lebanon and 'cleaning' it of Hezbollah." "The fact Israel went to war before it decided which option to select and without an exit strategy, all these constituted serious failures of the decision making process." As for achievements, the Commission reported that "SC resolution 1701, and the fact that it was adopted unanimously, were an achievement for Israel."[318]
