Bombs hidden in the group's pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of people and wounded thousands — many of them Hezbollah members. Israeli strikes on Beirut killed two of Hezbollah's top commanders. And Israel has bombed what it claimed were 1,600 militant sites across large parts of Lebanon, killing hundreds of Lebanese and displacing thousands.

Israel says its objective is to secure the border so that tens of thousands of people who fled under Hezbollah fire nearly a year ago can return to their homes. But it's far from clear that its recent operations — as tactically successful as they were — will bring that about.

“No one either in or out of the defense establishment has any clue as to how to translate these brilliant operational achievements into political benefit, into a real victory that will stop the war in the north,” columnist Nadav Eyal wrote in Israel’s Yediot Ahronot newspaper.

Hezbollah began firing into Israel the day after the war in Gaza erupted. The Lebanese group has said it would cease the attacks if there is a cease-fire in Gaza, which appears increasingly unlikely.

Hezbollah's response to the past week's escalation has seemed meager. The hundreds of rockets and drones it has fired into northern Israel — including areas much farther from the border than it hit previously — have caused few casualties and only scattered damage.

The Lebanese resistance militants fired a longer-range missile early Wednesday that targeted Tel Aviv for the first time, marking a clear escalation. The Israeli army said it intercepted the projectile, and there were no reports of casualties or damage.

Israeli air power has its limits
 

The footage on Monday of Israeli strikes on Lebanon sending up plumes of dust and smoke seemed grimly familiar.

The American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the NATO campaign in Libya in 2011, all began with massive airstrikes lighting up the sky. In each case, the war dragged on for months or years, and ground forces played a crucial role.

Israel's war on Gaza began with nearly three weeks of heavy airstrikes across the territory, followed by a full-scale ground invasion. Nearly a year later, the Palestinian resistance is still putting up a fight and holding scores of captives.

With Hezbollah, Israel has so far adopted narrower objectives — not the disarmament or defeat of the Lebanese group, but a new arrangement in which the group retreat from the border and halt attacks.

But even that may not be possible without a ground invasion.

There's also the risk of mission-creep, as America discovered after its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ground on for years after the toppling of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban. NATO airstrikes initially aimed at preventing a feared massacre in Benghazi morphed into a seven-month campaign of regime change from which Libya has yet to fully recover.

Hezbollah likely has capabilities we haven't seen yet

Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant boasted that Monday's strikes alone had taken out tens of thousands of Hezbollah's rockets and missiles.

“This is the most difficult week for Hezbollah since its establishment," he added. "A blow has been dealt to the chain of command, to the terrorists themselves on different levels, to their shooting capabilities and to their morale.”

Hezbollah has acknowledged suffering heavy blows, but even if Gallant's assessment is correct, it still has considerable resources.

“The rocket unit is still active, Hezbollah has absorbed the initial shock, and the battle has only begun,” said Qassim Qassir, a former Hezbollah member who wrote a book about the group. “Hezbollah has only used a small part of its capabilities."

The resistance group was established with the help of Iran following Israel's 1982 invasion and occupation of Lebanon. It has survived countless battles with Israeli forces, replaced several slain commanders over the years and rearmed after a monthlong war in 2006.

Hezbollah said to have some 100,000 fighters. Before the latest hostilities, it was believed to have some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including long-range projectiles capable of hitting anywhere inside Israel, and some precision-guided missiles.

Its more sophisticated weapons are likely being held in reserve as it seeks to avoid triggering an all-out war.

Sarit Zehavi, a former Israeli army intelligence analyst said Hezbollah has concealed its weapons in different parts of the country, including in areas close to Beirut where it has a strong presence.

Hezbollah is far more advanced militarily than Hamas. Hezbollah also has a far larger area in which to operate, extensive supply lines linking it more directly to Iran.

In the event of a ground invasion, Hezbollah fighters could be joined by thousands of fighters from fellow Iran-backed groups from Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere in the region.

Neither side has good options

Israel says it has no immediate plans for a ground invasion but is prepared for one, and has sent thousands of battle-hardened forces from Gaza to the northern border. If the air campaign fails to bring Hezbollah to heel, Israeli leaders will be tempted to send them in.

Even if the goal is only to carve out a buffer zone to better secure the north, the risks are great.

Most Israelis are insulated from the air war by distance and Israel's missile defense systems, but a ground invasion would mean more casualties and protracted fighting for soldiers and reservists already weary from a year of war in Gaza.

Hezbollah waged an 18-year-long insurgency against Israel the last time it occupied Lebanon, eventually forcing it to withdraw, and another prolonged occupation could be similarly costly.

Israel has already faced international outrage over the genocidal war in Gaza, including ongoing investigations by top world courts, and risks even greater isolation if it launches a similar campaign in Lebanon.

Hezbollah also has few good options.

Halting its rocket fire on the north in the face of Israeli pressure would likely be seen by its supporters — and Iran — as a humiliating capitulation and an abandonment of the Palestinians.

Escalating its attacks, either by launching more sophisticated rockets or targeting major cities like Tel Aviv, could bring an even more crushing Israeli response or an all-out war that devastates Lebanon — with Hezbollah at risk of being blamed.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah already faces criticism from many Lebanese who accuse him of tying their country’s fate to Iran and inviting war at a time of financial ruin.

That leaves it stuck with the status quo, in which Israel carries out increasingly heavy strikes while Hezbollah makes do with a relatively restrained response.

* This story was edited by Ahram Online.

For Hezbollah, and the Lebanese people, that might make the coming weeks even worse.