News Digest — 12/3/24
IDF Launches Wave Of Strikes In Southern Lebanon After Hezbollah Mortar Attack
The Israeli military launched a wave of airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Monday evening (2nd) after Hezbollah launched two mortars at the Mount Dov area for the first time since the ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group took effect last week.
The IDF announced that it had started striking targets in southern Lebanon in a brief statement, and said that further details would be provided later.
The IDF said the projectiles from Hezbollah landed in open areas and did not cause any injuries.
Senior Israeli officials were quick to condemn the Hezbollah attack, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing a firm response.
“Hezbollah’s firing at Mount Dov constitutes a serious violation of the ceasefire, and Israel will respond forcefully,” he said in a statement. “We are determined to continue to enforce the ceasefire, and to respond to any violation by Hezbollah – a minor one will be treated like a major one.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz also warned of a “harsh response” writing on X that Israel “promised to act against any violation of the ceasefire by Hezbollah, and that is exactly what we will do.”
A short while later, Lebanese media reported a series of IDF strikes in southern Lebanon.
There was no immediate comment from the military.
During a visit to southern Israel earlier in the day Monday (2nd), IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi vowed the military will “attack strongly in the face of Hezbollah’s grave violations, and we will continue to do so.”
“We have plans and goals ready to be activated at any moment,” he added.
Despite the incidents on Monday (2nd) , US officials said the ceasefire was still holding.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, White House National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby acknowledged that there have been “some sporadic strikes” over the last several days, but claims “this was expected” and is still a major decrease from the hundreds of Hezbollah rocket attacks and Israeli counter-strikes that were taking place before the ceasefire came into place.
The White House spokesperson said Israel and Lebanon remain committed to the ceasefire, but he conceded that it is only one week old, and there is more work to do to ensure that the enforcement mechanism is bolstered.
The IDF said on Monday (2nd) that it had carried out several strikes in Lebanon in the past day, following Hezbollah actions “that posed a threat to the State of Israel and violated the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
It said that it had struck several military vehicles operating at a Hezbollah missile manufacturing facility in the Beqaa Valley, and additional vehicles at several sites on the Lebanon Syria border in the Hermel District, which were used by Hezbollah to transport weapons.
“The IDF is deployed in southern Lebanon and acts against any threat that endangers the State of Israel,” the military said.
Netanyahu said on Sunday (1st) that Israel was “very resolutely enforcing the ceasefire agreement, and every violation by Hezbollah is immediately being met with intense reaction by the IDF.”
Foreign MInister Gideon Sa’ar said that Israel is not violating the terms of the truce, but is instead enforcing them in the face of Hezbollah’s violations that require “an immediate response in real time.”
According to Sa’ar’s office, he pointed at examples of Hezbollah operatives walking around armed, south of the Litani River, or moving weapons.
“Their mere presence south of the Litani is a most fundamental violation. They must move north, said Sa’ar.
The ceasefire that came into effect last Wednesday (11/27) was designed to bring to an end almost 14 months of Hezbollah initiated fighting.
Hezbollah began firing into Israel one day after Hamas’ October 7, 2023 onslaught in southern Israel in support of its fellow Iran-backed terror group, drawing Israeli reprisals and leading to the displacement of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.
Fighting intensified in late September, with Israel killing much of Hezbollah’s leadership and launching a limited ground incursion on Oct. 1, that has seen soldiers search villages for rockets and other arms held by the terrorist group, and tackle its terror tunnels and other infrastructure.
IDF Warns Iran Against Weapons Smuggling Into Syria Amid Rebel Fighting
IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari issued a stern warning to Iran on Monday (2nd), cautioning Iran against exploiting the ongoing fighting between Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime and rebel forces to funnel Iranian weapons into the war-torn country.
“Israel is closely monitoring developments in Syria and observes that the Iranian regime is sending reinforcements to Syria,” Hagari told Sky News Arabia in an interview.
“Syria belongs to the Syrians, and we will ensure that Iran does not smuggle weapons to Lebanon and Hezbollah. We will act to prevent the smuggling of weapons to Lebanon and Hezbollah through Syria,” he said.
Hagari emphasized Israel’s priorities, citing the country’s commitment to security and the lessons of the October 7 Hamas attacks.
“We need to ensure that we are not threatened,” he said, urging Lebanon to ensure its border regions remain free of weapons that could endanger Israel. He reiterated Israel’s commitment to the 60-day ceasefire process, designed to dismantle the Hezbollah threat, adding, “UNIFIL forces and the Lebanese government must fulfill their roles – this is also in their interest.”
Meanwhile, Ali Mohammad Naeini, spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, vowed retaliation. “The Syrian army and the resistance front will respond decisively and with force to Israel’s actions in Syria,” he said, accusing Israel of attempting to shift attention to Syria after failing to achieve objectives in Lebanon and Gaza.
Naeini dismissed Syrian rebel groups as “mercenaries of Israel and the United States” and claimed Israel’s actions demonstrated its failures to disarm Hezbollah or weaken its political influence.
The situation in Syria has intensified further with the arrival of two pro-Iranian militias from Iraq, who joined Syrian government forces to counter a rebel offensive that seized control of Aleppo over the weekend, according to Syrian military sources quoted by Reuters.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces intercepted an Iranian aircraft suspected of transporting weapons to Hezbollah. The Mahan Air flight, bound for Syria, was turned back after Israeli fighter jets intercepted it over Syrian airspace. The operation, part of Israel’s enforcement of the ceasefire, marked a significant deviation from previous interceptions, which typically occurred over Lebanon.
The interception aligns with the terms of the ceasefire and a US-Israel letter of guarantees, which commits Washington to aid Israel in curbing Iran’s destabilizing activities in Lebanon and preventing the transfer of weapons and proxies from Iranian territory. Israeli officials described the operation as a clear signal to Iran that weapons transfers will not be tolerated.
IDF Drone Strike Near Jenin Kills Hamas Terrorist Behind Deadly Jordan Valley Shooting
An Israeli drone strike near the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday morning (1st) killed four Palestinian gunmen including a Hamas terrorist responsible for a deadly shooting attack in the Jordan valley in the summer, the military said.
According to the Israeli Defense Forces, the cell of the four gunmen killed in the airstrike, in the town of Sir, near Jenin, was responsible for several shooting attacks against Israeli towns bordering the northern West Bank.
The head of the cell, Wael Lahlouh, 31, from Qabatiya, carried out a shooting attack on August 11 at the Mehola Junction on Route 90, the main north-south artery in the Jordan Valley, killing Yonaton Deutsch, 23, and wounding Anas Jaramana, 32.
Lahlouh and another Hamas terrorist managed to flee the scene of the attack. The terror group later released a video of the shooting.
The IDF said that following the attack, Lahlouh worked to recruit additional terrorists in Jenin for imminent attacks.
After the four gunmen were targeted in the drone strike, troops raided the site and seized three guns from their bodies, the military said.
Additional weapon parts and military equipment were also captured, the army added.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry said it was informed of the deaths of the four, indicating that their bodies are being held by Israeli authorities.
The West Bank, which is controlled by Israeli security forces, has seen a sharp rise in violence since the Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
The onslaught was followed by sharp restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank and wide-scale counterterrorism operations there. On Wednesday (11/27), the Shin Bet said it thwarted an arms shipment to the West Bank by Iran, Hamas’ benefactor.
Since the Hamas onslaught, Israeli troops have arrested some 5,250 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,050 affiliated with Hamas.
716 West Bank Palestinians were killed during that time, most of them gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, some were rioters who clashed with IDF troops, others were terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 41 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
Anti-Semitism Quadruped In Australia Following October 7th – Study
Australia experienced a fourfold increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents over the past year as compared to the prior 12 months, a report issued by a local Jewish organization claims.
On Sunday (1st), the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) issued a report which documented 2,062 reported incidents of anti-Semitism across the country from October 2023 through September 2024.
By comparison, during the preceding 12 months, just 495 anti-Semitic incidents were reported.
ECAJ Research Director Julie Nathan said the 316% surge was the largest single year increase ever recorded.
“In the 12 months that followed there was a 316% increase in the overall number of reported anti-Semitic incidents in Australia compared to the same period in the previous year. While the number of reported anti-Semitic “incidents has fluctuated from year to year previously, there has never been anything like an annual increase of this magnitude.”
Nathan said Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7th, 2023 encouraged anti-Jewish activity outside of Israel.
“For anti-Israel activists in Australia and elsewhere, the slaughter acted as a signal that it was now open season against local Jewish communities too, who overwhelmingly support Israel’s right to exist and defend itself.”
“The rise in anti-Semitism has been marked not only by a quantitative increase in the number of incidents but also a qualitative shift,” Nathan continued, lamenting that the number of reported incidents did not fully represent the worsening situation in Australia.
“If anything, the raw numbers understate the seriousness of the surge in anti-Semitism that has occurred. There have been many new forms and expressions of anti-Jewish racism that would once have been considered alien to Australia, but which have become commonplace.”
“There were anti-Israel protests outside synagogues and Jewish schools, convoys of vehicles driving through suburbs with a high proportion of Jewish residents, anti-Israel activists targeting small businesses owned by Jewish families, residential homes being targeted with hate graffiti and stickers, and a huge increase in physical assaults against Jews and verbal abuse on the streets.”
In late November, video footage went viral showing a Queensland shopkeeper ejecting two Israeli customers out of her store, while hurling anti-Semitic epithets.
In another incident in late November, a dozen cars and at least three buildings in Woollahra. A suburb of Sydney, were spraypainted with anti-Semitic graffiti, with one of the cars set ablaze.
Shia Imam: Save Lebanon From Iran’s Death Grip – Sheikh Abbas Al-Jawhari
• Like many from Lebanon’s Shia community in 1985, I joined Hezbollah as a young man, inspired by the revolutionary fervor radiating out of Iran that called for our people to take up arms against Israel and the West. But after seeing Lebanon go through decades of conflict, corruption and spiraling poverty, my vision for my community and country have evolved.
• As an Imam of the Shia community in Lebanon, I say that the biggest threat in Lebanon and the Middle East is the radical ideology of Iran’s regime. The only way to secure a long-term peace in Lebanon is to actively roll back the Iranian regime’s control of our country. Our hopes have been subverted by an ideology that is dedicated to violence and the suppression of freedoms.
• During a visit to Tehran, I heard from Iranian Shia themselves about the lack of freedom and equality in their society, the nepotism and privileges granted to the relatives of the regime and those close to it.
• The revolution has forsaken the people it claimed to represent, and it has dragged its society back into the Dark Ages. In Lebanon too. Hezbollah has turned what was a beautiful country into a mafia state.
• American and French diplomats should know that the Shia community deserves and desires peace, and to live free from the influence of foreign regimes that force us into an endless and pointless conflict. My call to choose peace over Iran has almost cost me my life on several occasions at the hands of Hezbollah.
The writer is a Shi’ite Imam based in Baalbek, Lebanon.
