I think it actually is likely that he didn’t expect Israel to make any serious response. “Nasrallah sorry for scale of war,” from the BBC, with thanks to all who sent this in:
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has said he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to such a war.
“Had we known that the kidnapping of the soldiers would have led to this, we would definitely not have done it,” he said in an interview on Lebanese TV.
He added that neither side was “heading towards a second round” of fighting….
This could mean that Hizballah is in worse shape than his crowing about a great victory might lead one to believe.
Speaking in Brussels on Friday, Mr Annan said the plan would only work if the enlarged UN force, called Unifil 2, was “strong, credible and robust“.