News Digest — 9/25/24
Hezbollah Takes Responsibility For Surface-To-Surface Missile Fired From Lebanon
Sirens were sounded Wednesday morning (25th), around 6:30 a.m., in Tel Aviv and Gush Dan.
A few minutes later sirens were also activated in the Sharon area, including in Netanya, where a siren was sounded for the first time since the start of the war.
After the sirens, interceptions of rockets were seen in the area.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said, “Following the sirens that sounded in the Tel Aviv and Netanya areas, one surface-to-surface missile was identified crossing from Lebanon and was intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array.”
Later, the IDF reported that it struck the launcher used in the attack.
“Following the surface-to-surface missile launched toward central Israel, the IAF struck the launcher from which the missile was fired in Lebanon,” the IDF said. “Also overnight (Wednesday, 25th), with the direction of IDF intelligence, the IAF conducted an additional series of strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanese territory.”
“Following the strike on multiple Hezbollah weapons storage facilities, secondary explosions were identified, indicating the presence of large quantities of weapons within.”
Hezbollah, later took responsibility for the firing and announced that, “a Qader 1 type ballistic missile was launched at the Mossad Headquarters, this is the place responsible for the pagers explosion and killing of top officials in the organization.”
Hezbollah Rocket Division Commander Reportedly Killed In Israeli Strike On Beirut
The IDF launched a targeted strike on Tuesday (24th) in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district, a Hezbollah stronghold, aiming at Ibrahim Qubaisi, also known as Abu Musa, the head of the terror group’s rocket division.
Security sources told Reuters that Qubaisi, who was responsible for directing rocket attacks towards central Israel, was killed in the attack, which hit a six-story residential building, destroying three floors.
According to a senior Israeli official, Qubaisi had only recently been appointed to report directly to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.
“We are in the midst of intense combat days in the north, and Israel has escalated its offensive against Hezbollah,” the official told Ynet. “We’ve been systematically dismantling Hezbollah’s capabilities, including destroying thousands of rockets and missiles.”
“Our strategy is not to enter a full-scale war but to increase pressure gradually. If Hezbollah didn’t understand the message with the assassination of Ibrahim Aqil, it will in the coming days.”
Following a series of recent assassinations, Qubaisi became one of the group’s top military figures, responsible for Hezbollah’s strategic capabilities and allegedly involved in recent rocket attacks on Tel Aviv.
Tuesday’s strike followed an air raid the previous day targeting Ali Karaki, Hezbollah’s Southern Front commander and the group’s third-ranking leader.
Over the last two months, Israel has eliminated two of Hezbollah’s top military leaders, considered part of the founding generation of the organization. In late July, Fuad Shukr, dubbed “Hezbollah’s chief of staff,” was killed in Dahiyeh. Last week, Ibrahim Aqil, the head of Hezbollah’s operations unit, was killed alongside senior commanders of the elite Radwan Force.
The attack on Dahiyeh marks the fifth Israeli strike on the Hezbollah stronghold since the beginning of the war, including the assassination of senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri.
U.S. officials told CNN that the recent Israeli strikes have significantly impacted Hezbollah’s command and control structure, “setting them back 20 years.”
However, they expressed concerns that Iran may intervene to support Hezbollah if it feels its strongest proxy is at risk of collapse. “We are closer to a regional war than at any time since October 7,” a U.S. official said.
Report: ‘Maybe Later’ – Iran Ignores Hezbollah Plea To Attack Israel
Iran recently rebuffed a request from its proxy group Hezbollah to attack Israel, as fighting intensified between the terror group and the Israeli military.
In recent days , Israel has struck thousands of weapons warehouses and other military assets, killing more than 500 people – most of them believed to be affiliated with Hezbollah.
The Israeli air force has repeatedly bombed Dahiyeh, a Beirut suburb and Hezbollah stronghold, assassinating high profile Hezbollah figures and humiliating the terror group.
According to an Axios report, a battered Hezbollah recently turned to its patron and asked Iran to directly attack Israel.
Israeli intelligence officials told Axios that Iran had refused the request.
Iranian officials reportedly told their Hezbollah contacts that “the timing isn’t right” for an attack on Israel, because Iranian President Mahmoud Pezeshkian is currently in New York for the UN General Assembly.
Publicly, Pezeshkian pledged that Iran would continue to support Hezbollah in its war against Israel.
“Hezbollah cannot stand alone against a country that is being defended and supported and supplied by Western countries, by European countries and the United States,” he told CNN.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday (24th), Pezeshkian claimed that Israel is the source of instability in the Middle East and that Iran is not interested in war.
“We don’t want to fight,” Pezeshkian claimed. “It’s Israel that wants to drag everyone into war and destabilize the region. They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go.”
Israel’s intensification of its military campaign against the Hezbollah terror group, in which Iran has invested untold funds, training, and arms, appears to have sparked panic among Iran’s leadership.
However, Tehran likely wishes to avoid directly attacking Israel, because doing so would give the IDF legitimacy to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites.
Katz To UN: ‘Israel Will No Longer Tolerate This War Of Attrition’
Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on the UN Security Council this week to take action against Hezbollah and Iran, declaring that “Israel will no longer tolerate the war of attrition that Hezbollah and Iran are trying to impose on us.”
In a letter to the council, Katz demanded full enforcement of resolution 1701, which mandates the disarmament of Hezbollah and prohibits armed groups in southern Lebanon.
He accused Hezbollah of embedding itself within civilian areas and using the population as human shields, urging the council to “strongly condemn the latest attack launched by Hezbollah at Iran’s behest.”
Katz also highlighted the Israeli airstrike against Hezbollah leadership in Beirut last Friday (20th), saying it was necessary to prevent planned infiltrations into the Galilee and potential attacks similar to those carried out by Hamas on October 7.
“Israel does not seek a full-scale war,” Katz wrote, “but we will take all necessary measures to defend ourselves and our citizens in accordance with international law.” He blamed Iran for directing Hezbollah’s aggression since October 8, as well as arming its proxies, including the Houthis, who he said threaten both Israel and international stability.
He urged the international community to intensify sanctions on Iran and to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
Katz also emphasized Israel’s diplomatic efforts, saying that over the past year, Israel has pursued a diplomatic solution with Lebanon to allow the safe return of both Israeli and displaced Lebanese civilians. He claimed that Hezbollah rejected these efforts and linked the issue to a ceasefire in Gaza.
“While Israel has shown remarkable restraint over the past 11 months, we will not endure the continued war of attrition that Hezbollah and its patron Iran are trying to force upon us,” Katz continued.
He concluded by urging the Security Council to act to ensure the full implementation of Resolution 1701.
“Now, this council must act to ensure the full implementation of Resolution 1701. Hezbollah is intentionally spreading its military operations within civilian infrastructure in Lebanon, using the population as human shields. Israel has monitored this and will act to protect its people from Hezbollah’s attacks.
We have issued warnings to civilians in Lebanon near buildings and areas used by Hezbollah for military purposes, advising them to evacuate for their safety. I call on the Security Council to strongly condemn Hezbollah’s latest offensive, directed by its Iranian patron, and its ongoing attempts to destabilize the region.”
(ynetnews.com)
Argentina’s President Milei Calls Out UN’s Hypocrisy In Condemning Israel
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon thanked Argentine President Javier Milei for defending Israel in his speech before the General Assembly on Tuesday afternoon (24th), as the two leaders embraced for a handshake following Milei’s speech.
“Thank you, President Milei! You are a true friend of the State of Israel,” Danon said in a statement. “In this hall where they slandered Israel all day, you showed courage and supported Israel.”
During his remarks, Milei criticized the UN for its hypocrisies in criticizing Israel.
“In this same house, we purport to defend human rights, but we have included bloody dictatorships in the Human Rights Council, Including Cuba and Venezuela without reproach,” Milei said.
“In this same house, which purports to defend the rights of women, we’ve allowed on the CEDAW Committee countries that punish their women just for showing their skin,”Milei added.
And this same house has voted against the State of Israel, which is the only country in the Middle East to defend liberal democracy.”
The rest of Milei’s speech focused on criticizing the organization for its shift from its original mission of peace and human rights to promoting collectivist policies under the 2030 agenda.
Why War In Lebanon Is Inevitable – Robert Nicholson
• I spent a lovely Friday evening this summer on a friend’s terrace in northern Israel a few km. from the Lebanese border. The scene was idyllic, except for the Iranian missiles falling from the sky and the Israeli rockets flying up to stop them. While U.S. envoys have been unable to stop Hezbollah’s attacks through diplomacy, Israelis are demanding action.
• I asked my friend how she and her family, Israeli Christians, got on amid such chaos. “This happens every day,” she answered. “You get used to it.” Feeling the booms reverberate in my chest, I couldn’t understand how. “How will this end?” I asked her. She replied, “We destroy Hezbollah – it’s the only way.” Most Israelis agree with her, and after seeing the situation with my own eyes, I couldn’t help but join them.
• I’d heard the same sentiments two days earlier in Tel Aviv from Brig-Gen (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, former head of research for military intelligence and director-general of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs. He said, “The lesson of October 7 is that Israel cannot tolerate heavily armed radical Islamists on its borders, even if they stay quiet for years. They must be destroyed preemptively if necessary.”
• Israelis almost always prefer quiet “live-and-let-live” deals with their enemies over military confrontations. Harboring no illusions about changing hostile societies through force, they avoid grand adventures and apply violence only in limited circumstances. Yet many in Israel now believe it was their very aversion to war and willingness to embrace a modus vivendi in Gaza that made the horrors of October 7 possible.
• Israel’s previous policy had been to contain Hamas in Gaza, periodically degrading its military infrastructure in short wars, yet keeping the Hamas regime afloat with cash infusions from Iranian ally Qatar. “I helped design that policy,” Kuperwasser said. “And yes, it worked – until it didn’t.” But, “honestly, what was the alternative: a preemptive Israeli invasion and regime change in Gaza? No one would have supported such a thing before October 7….[Yet] the idea that religious fanatics sworn to our destruction would ever live quietly on our borders was delusional.”
• “We need to finish the war in Gaza, turn to Hezbollah in Lebanon – and then to Iran. Whoever wants to destroy us, we must destroy them first. What choice do we have?”
The Next Lebanon War Looms -David Ignatius
This was a war that both sides had hoped to avoid. The Biden administration has been trying to find an exit ramp for 11 months. But the hard logic of war proved stronger than the soft logic of peace. Hezbollah wouldn’t stop firing rockets; Israel wouldn’t stop retaliating – and the U.S. couldn’t stop them.
I’m a journalist, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have opinions. I think Hamas rule has been a tragedy for Palestinians in Gaza and an intolerable menace for Israel. I think Hezbollah is a terrorist group that kidnapped Lebanon and has the blood of hundreds of Americans on its hands.
I visited the U.S. Embassy in Beirut on April 18, 1983, and left about half an hour before a terrorist car bomb demolished the building. Most years since then, I exchange messages with the embassy official who escorted me to the elevator that day. She emailed me last week, after an Israeli airstrike killed IbrahimAqil, one of the Iran-backed terrorists who plotted the embassy bombing that day. Suffice to say, she doesn’t grieve for Aqil’s loss.
