Hezbollah
The firing of 19 rockets at open areas near Kiryat Shmona was a calculated step by Hezbollah designed to indicate that it will not “allow” Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon to go unanswered; the scope of Israel’s retaliation will determine the next stage of this controlled standoff.
While the reason for the attack isn’t clear, Israel’s firepower response was more extensive than July’s reply to a similar attack, though still calculated to avoid a broader deterioration in security.
“The European Union’s distinction between Hezbollah’s ‘military’ and ‘political’ wing is dishonest, and does little to address its fundraising and recruitment efforts,” said Peter Meijer (R-Mich.).
“I don’t have a magic wand, and I can’t work miracles,” said Lebanese businessman Najib Mikati, who has served in the role twice before.
The recent interception of a weapons-smuggling attempt along the Lebanese-Israeli border is a sign of a larger development: Hezbollah’s unit in charge of orchestrating terrorism in Israel is expanding under new leadership.
Seeking to avoid drawing Israeli firepower south towards Gaza, which is deep in recovery mode, Hamas is looking for new avenues to promote an “equation”; Hezbollah to the north announced the equation, and Iraqi militias and the Houthis have pledged allegiance to it.
“Hezbollah has a role to play in this collapse,” said Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi.
The IDF Northern Command assessed that Hezbollah possesses as many as 150 thousand rockets and missiles at various ranges.
“This endangers the lives of 300 children who attend the school,” says the Israeli military.
Outgoing IDF deputy chief of staff warns of “heavy, long conflict with multi-arenas, combined with internal challenges.” Meanwhile, the IDF ground forces examine ways to boost lethality.
The video’s publication comes as Israel marks 15 years since the fatal cross-border raid that saw Shi’ite terrorists abduct IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
Jonathan Spyer tells JNS, “What is happening in Lebanon is what happens when a country allows itself to be taken over by a franchise of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, with all the corruption and eventual collapse and impoverishment which follows.”
