Just solution needed, not more violence: China Daily editorial

In what is regarded as being the most damaging attacks Israel has carried out on the militant group since 2006, the Israel Defense Forces killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday.

The killing of Nasrallah, along with multiple others at the top of the Hezbollah leadership, who Israel says were legitimate targets under international law, is no doubt a heavy blow to a key regional foe of Israel. This along with the debilitating damage Israeli air strikes have done to Hezbollah infrastructure across Lebanon over the past week will certainly serve Tel Aviv's goal of significantly mitigating the security threat on Israel's northern border.

However, just as eliminating the top Hamas leaders doesn't equate to eradicating Hamas, quashing Hezbollah isn't as simple as wiping out its leading commanders. The United States' so-called war on terror and Israel's own history of violent exchanges with its regional foes have proved that, having been less than successful.

The Benjamin Netanyahu government is determined to use overwhelming force against Israel's regional enemies such as Hamas and Hezbollah. But if violence didn't work in the past, there is no reason to think it will work now or in the future.

Israel is trapped in a web of historical hostilities. Facing multiple enemies working in coordination, it is sinking deeper into the mire of violence in the mistaken belief that brute force is the only way it can guarantee its security.

But that is a false proposition. Nasrallah's killing, for instance, has only prompted pledges of resistance, from Hamas to the Houthis.

Hamas said in a statement that "crimes and assassination" by Israel will only increase the determination and the insistence of the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon.

The Houthis said in a statement: "The resistance will not be broken, and the Jihadist spirit of the Mujahideen brothers in Lebanon and on all fronts of support will grow stronger and bigger." In its own statement, Hezbollah vowed to "continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine".

To Israel, the world may appear to be a "safer place" without Nasrallah. But perhaps not for long. Because such an approach will hardly put an end to the organization.

As Israel exerts its military strength, it may want to look at the issue from a more strategic perspective as Beijing is urging all parties to do.

Expressing serious concern about the potential of the violence to convulse the entire Middle East, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday  said that "might cannot replace justice". He called for international efforts to maneuver an all-round cease-fire and then a security framework that takes into account all stakeholders' concerns.

Peace will not be achieved until the vicious circle of tit-for-tat violence is broken in the Middle East and the parties concerned accept that violence only begets violence.