world news
Hezbollah war alert level rising: Is the IDF ready to fight in Lebanon? – analysis
Amos Hochstein, the envoy and mediator of the Biden administration for the Israeli-Lebanese conflict, raised the alert level in Israel on Wednesday when he announced that his efforts toward agreement between Israel and Hezbollah had reached a dead end.
Hezbollah insisted throughout the months of fighting that as long as the fighting in the Gaza Strip continues, it will keep attacking the Israeli home front. In a few weeks, the intense fighting in Rafah will end, and the IDF should transition to intelligence-based raids against terrorist activities.
However, the emerging security situation will compel the Israeli government to make decisions about the future of the conflict with Hezbollah. Options include but are not limited to waiting for a diplomatic development, escalating the fighting, or launching a full-scale war against the Shiite organization in Lebanon. This arena could see the involvement of Iran, the Houthis from Yemen, and Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria.
A security official told Walla, “We are now approaching the moment of decision,” and officials in Beirut and Jerusalem now understand that the situation could deteriorate significantly.The situation on the ground heated up in the last two days after Hezbollah terrorists resumed fighting following a two-day pause. Yesterday, two Hezbollah terrorists were killed, and last night, another four were killed. Hezbollah’s policy is to carry out their plans despite having more than 350 of their terrorists dead, terrorists who had a high level of familiarity with the region.
Strategies and Readiness
Those remaining in outposts and temporary sites operate under a sense of being hunted as they attempt to launch anti-tank missiles at the Narkis outpost and rockets at Rosh Hanikra.
The focus of the IDF counter units is on Hezbollah’s junior command level, which has suffered very painful blows leading to a decrease in the scale of attacks on the Israeli home front. For example, Abu Jaafar Baz, a coastal brigade commander in Hezbollah, was eliminated alongside the head of the brigade’s artillery division. Following their elimination, there has been a noted decrease in the volume of rocket launches.
The IDF estimated that due to the pressure exerted by Hezbollah’s senior headquarters to carry out more launches and attacks, the Northern Command and the Israel Air Force would have more opportunities to strike in southern Lebanon based on mistakes made on the other side of the border.
There is an understanding that these are the most critical weeks since the fighting in the north began. In closed forums, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told the political leadership that the IDF was ready for war. Halevi emphasized to the field commanders in the North, both in training and operations, that the security situation could change rapidly and that they must maintain a high level of readiness and alertness.
Anti-Israel activists called for a shift from protests to militancy and violent revolution at protests against the presidential debate between US President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump in Atlanta on Thursday.
“We say f**k the police, we will burn it down and take what is ours in the streets. And that isn’t an empty threat, its a promise,” said a woman speaking to around a hundred activists in a protest organized by Palestine Action US. “The days of protests are behind us, and to be peaceful in the belly of the beast that commits unlimited genocide on the global south is a disgrace. It is time we follow the lead of militants of oppressed nations. It is time to change our orientation from one of protest to resistance.”
Advertisement for the “stop the debate” protest explained that both Biden and Trump were part of a system that needed to be upended, calling the choice between Democrat and Republican a “false choice. In a video published by Palestine Action US, the speaker calling for the beheading of the “two-headed beast.”
“Intifada, Intifada. Long live the intifada,” chanted activists. “Globalize the intifada.”Opting for a ‘tactical retreat’
Escalate network said on X on Friday that the protesters had opted for a “tactical retreat” when confronted by police. The group claimed that a speaker cited the philosophy of deceased terrorist Basel Al-Araj, and told other protesters “we fight when we are ready, not when the enemy is ready.”
The Party for Socialism and Liberation also held protests outside the CNN Atlanta studio where the debate was held. PSL’s own presidential candidate, Claudia De la Cruz joined the pro-Palestinian protests.
“As Genocide Joe and arch-racist Donald Trump each clamored to call themselves bigger supporters of Israel and the war machine than their opponent, more and more people reject the two-party system and desire a alternative,” PSL Atlanta said on Instagram on Saturday. “No matter who takes the presidency in November, we will not let up until we get a permanent ceasefire, an end to the occupation, and an end to all U.S. aid to Israel! We must build a mass movement that will tear down this unjust system!”
Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America and Atlanta Multifaith Coalition for Palestine also participated in the PSL protests.
One photograph shared on Saturday on Instagram by the coalition said that the “whole damn system’s got to go.”
Atlanta DSA said on Saturday on social media that neither Trump nor Biden represented the “will of working people.”
The Hamas-run radio station Al-Aqsa Voice is available for download from the Apple application store for iPhones and iPads.
The free application allows listeners to tune into broadcasts of the Gaza-based radio station.
The age rating for the app is +17 because of “Mild/moderate realistic violence.”
Middle East analyst Eitan Fischberger, who originally discovered the application, questioned what internal review mechanisms Apple has in place to prevent terrorist organizations from exploiting its platform.Demands for Apple to remove the app
“Apple should immediately remove the app and fix whatever led to this gross oversight,” said Fischberger.
“How many susceptible American youths have tuned into Al-Aqsa radio through the App Store? How many have listened to the station as it aired speeches by [Hamas political leader] Ismail Haniyeh and [Hamas Gaza leader] Yahya Sinwar? Voice of Al-Aqsa has been one of Hamas’s primary propaganda channels for years.”
Al-Aqsa Voice advertises its Apple application on its website next to an option for an application on Google Play, however the Google version no longer appears to be available.
The Hamas-affiliated radio channel also has accounts on Soundcloud, X, and Facebook, but they haven’t been updated since July, May, and October. The station’s Telegram account also no longer appears available.
An investigation by the Financial Times has claimed that the IDF’s operations in southern Lebanon are part of a plan to create a 5 km. “dead zone” on the border.
The FT combined data from satellites along with research from US universities using “synthetic aperture radar” satellites to detect changes in buildings without being affected by cloud cover.
Following the beginning of the war in October, Hezbollah began firing on Israel, with Israel responding in kind.
The report also stated that that over 95,000 Lebanese have been displaced, as well as 60,000 Israelis.The FT also reported that Israel has killed more Hezbollah commanders in this flare-up than died in the 2006 war.
Hezbollah fighters quoted in the report balked at the idea that they would withdraw from southern Lebanon.
Lebanese officials seemed to hope that a wider war could be stemmed by the creation of a buffer zone and a diplomatic solution.
The IDF denied it was creating a buffer zone. The IDF claimed it was only pushing back Hezbollah in order to prevent persistent attacks on Israeli residents of the North.
Many Lebanese have only been able to return to their villages during funerals, which appear to be one of the few respites from airstrikes.
“Every day, the destruction is getting worse,” Hassan Shayt, mayor of Kfar Kila, told FT.
A new era of war
“The damage is massive,” Hashem Haidar, the head of Lebanon’s Southern Council, said.
“The type of weaponry that’s being used is different from what we saw in 2006. Before, when a house was bombed, the damage would be confined to the house and its immediate surroundings. Now, there are entire neighborhoods that are being affected by one bombing.”
A senior Israeli military official defending their position said, “Every third home in south Lebanon is used by Hizbollah for weapons storage, training, firing positions, and meeting points for a possible cross-border attack.”
Several residents of targeted villages told FT that they believed that Israel was targeting the homes of people who returned to retrieve their belongings. Some of them noted that within two hours of returning to retrieve their belongings, the IDF had struck their house.
However, the FT also reported that soon after an airstrike they witnessed, Hezbollah fighters told them that their fighters had been hiding and storing weapons in abandoned homes.
There were also questions raised about Israel’s tactics for clearing brushland near the border, with several clips of Israeli troops employing unconventional methods, such as the use of trebuchets to launch flaming projectiles across the border and even flaming arrows.
Wow. Fighting Middle Age-mindset terrorists with Middle Age technology.The IDF soldiers built a TREBUCHET to clear foliage/bushes that Hezbollah have been hiding in and firing from.pic.twitter.com/24cURSYdw2
— Kosher (@KosherCockney) June 13, 2024
They also raised issues regarding Israel’s use of white phosphorus in combat. Israel claims that the use of white phosphorus is in line with international law and is strictly used for smokescreens and not fired at combatants.
העדכון החדש של מייפל סטורי נראה מטורף pic.twitter.com/x2cmBJUm9i
— David Yerman (@davidyerman) June 13, 2024
Although local mayors claim that this use has contaminated agricultural land, that may take years to undo, with some estimates of over $1.7 billion in damage.
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