What is a "WAR"

with the stuff going on in israel, the israeli government first said it is a war now it says it is not.

what definition of war are they using. is the only reason they are not saying it is a war, because they do not want the whole arab/islamic world to start to think it is a war, and make the situation worse. are they keeping people calm before the storm.

do you guys think this is a war, or not, and try to explain why either way. thx

this is a good question mate and one i havent thought about before?

i suppose i think of a war being different groups going at it until one parties has lost sufficient life and machinery to be unable to repell their enemys advances.

You right though with the Israel thing....what do we class it as now...?

is it violent unrest between two neighbours or a war?

i'll be interested to see what others say.

By some definitions, you could say Israel is at war for the past 40 years. This event with Lebanon is just a more intensified skirmish really. Israel has been carrying out airstrikes against Hezbolah periodically for over a decade. Similarly its jets have flew above Syria and Lebanon on many recent occasions without any declaration of war.

All sides involved are very careful about any official declarations of war. No one wants an actual war, but this skirmish is the biggest action Lebanon saw with Israel for at least 20 years.

Well a WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! is worse but war is just fighting