Hamas’s opposition was vindicated in May 2000, when Ehud Barak unexpectedly decided to withdraw Israel’s occupying forces from south Lebanon after years of explosive confrontations with Hezbollah.35 The swiftness of Israel’s retreat in the absence of a peace agreement with Lebanon left the impression that it was pressured to let go of the territory because of Hezbollah’s armed struggle. Hamas hailed the success of the “Lebanese model” as proof that resistance was the only way to liberate Palestine.
