Israel has learned from its failure in Lebanon

As they prepared for airstrikes on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Israel drew lessons from their stalemate against another Islamic paramilitary force, Lebanon8217;s Hezbollah guerrillas. In that setback in 2006, Israel rushed to battle without a detailed plan, and was handed its first failure to vanquish an Arab foe in war. Hezbollah not only withstood the 34-day offensive, but also emerged stronger politically.

Faced with frequent Hamas rocket fire across its southern border, Israel planned its Gaza operation meticulously, over nearly two years. Israeli officials said on Sunday, their intelligence services developed a list of targets to bomb, enabling the air force to inflict more damage on the militant Palestinian group before Israel contemplates a ground assault. And instead of boasting that they would 8220;destroy8221; the enemy, as they did in case of Lebanon, Israeli leaders set a more modest aim of 8220;improving the security8221; of terrorized Israeli communities.

So far, Israel considers its Gaza offensive a success. Since it began on Saturday, airstrikes have destroyed Hamas paramilitary facilities, and rocket-launching sites.