From what experts, politicians and intellectuals of all kinds say, it would seem that war cannot end except by a long, hard killing and the complete destruction of one side or the other (or mutual destruction). But now the more advanced civilizations in the Middle East have taught us a lesson in what ending war can look like.

The Israeli army has announced that it has achieved all its objectives on the battlefield with Hisbollah and that it has no reason to continue fighting.

A few days later, it emerged that negotiations had taken place between Israeli and Hezbollah officials and that the parties had agreed to establish a demilitarised zone. Yes, you read that correctly! There were contacts between the parties. I guess they don’t know the wisdom of teenage politicians from the Baltics that you don’t talk to the enemy.

Israel asked Russia to be the guarantor of this peace. That’s it.

Conspiracy theorists will scream that Israel failed. The Israelis don’t care. What matters is that the rockets stop falling on their towns and villages.

The critics will argue that it is only a matter of time before Hezbollah disarms and starts again. But by then, the Israelis will have new technology to shoot down drones and smaller rockets with a laser beam, at almost zero cost.

By the way, this is how most wars in European history have ended. Not by destroying the enemy, but by reaching some state of affairs somehow acceptable to both sides, with the side that was more successful on the battlefield getting more of it.

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