Ongoing conflicts and fragile ceasefires test Israel's stability

A ceasefire ending Israel's 12-day war with Iran held firm on Wednesday, but truces involving Israel have a history of unravelling with no long-term settlement with its foes. While the war with Iran was the first direct confrontation between the arch enemies, Israel's wars in Lebanon and Gaza saw it battle Tehran-backed militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas repeatedly over several decades. Here is a rundown of some of the conflicts in which a lasting peace has proved elusive: Israel and Iran had fought a low-intensity shadow war for decades before they entered into direct hostilities on June 13. Prior to the war, Israel had acknowledged cyberattacks on Iran's nuclear programme, while its intelligence services have been linked to assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists. Iran has long been accused by Israel and Western governments of funding and transferring weapons to militant groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and the Palestinian territories -- its so-called "axis of resistance". After the ceasefire was announced on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to prevent Tehran ever rebuilding its nuclear facilities, raising the prospect of further conflict. Neighbouring Lebanon saw Israeli ground invasions in 1978 and 1982 that prompted the creation of UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL, which remains in place to this day, and the formation of Hezbollah with Iran's support.

The militant group went on to fight devastating wars with Israel in 2006 and 2024. After the 2006 ceasefire, rocket launches from Lebanon and Israeli raids and air strikes on Hezbollah targets occurred sporadically until an uptick in hostilities in 2023. Israeli troops entered Lebanon on September 30, 2024, after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges launched by Hezbollah in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas. Under a November truce, which was based on a United Nations resolution that ended the 2006 war, only UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army may bear arms south of the Litani river, which runs around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border. Israel was supposed to withdraw all of its forces but has kept troops in five areas it deems strategic. It has continued to launch frequent strikes, mainly on what it says are suspected Hezbollah positions and operatives. A strike on Tuesday killed three people, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The Israeli military said it had killed a currency dealer responsible for transferring funds from Iran to Hezbollah.

Israel's last formal ceasefire with Syria was the 1974 disengagement agreement which followed the previous year's Arab-Israeli war. As in Lebanon, a UN peacekeeping mission formed to monitor the agreement, UNDOF, remains in place today. After the overthrow of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December last year, Israel sent troops into the buffer zone set up by the agreement to separate Syrian and Israeli forces. It also carried out an intensive bombing campaign against Syrian military assets to prevent them falling into the hands of the new Islamist-led government, which it regards as jihadist. Iranian-backed groups, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, which had been severely weakened in tis war with Israel, had helped keep Assad in power through more than 13 years of civil war and were repeatedly pounded by previous Israeli air strikes. Israel launched a withering offensive in Gaza after Hamas's attack of October 2023 left 1,219 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Now in its 21st month, the conflict has killed 56,156 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-ruled territory's health ministry. A first truce in November 2023 allowed the release of hostages seized during the Hamas attack, but did not achieve lasting peace. Another ceasefire did not come until January 2025, lasting six weeks despite occasional strikes, but collapsed in March when Israel resumed major operations. Previous wars in Gaza in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021 and 2023 ended with ceasefires, mostly brokered by Egypt. They were all repeatedly broken by Israeli strikes and incursions or by rocket fire from Palestinian factions inside Gaza.