News Digest — 8/21/24
IDF Strikes Hezbollah Targets In Bekaa Valley Lebanon
Hezbollah fired rockets and drones at the Golan Heights and Upper Galilee on Wednesday (21st) after the IDF said it had struck Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in the area of the Lebanese Bekaa Valley some 56 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border, for the second consecutive night.
“Following the strikes, secondary explosions were identified, indicating the presence of large amounts of weapons in the facilities that were hit,” the military said. According to the Lebanese NBN channel, one person was killed, and 16 others injured.
Residents of communities on the Golan Heights were urged to remain near their shelters and avoid unnecessary travel and large gatherings.
Hezbollah said overnight that four of its members were killed on Wednesday (21st), bringing the fatality rate in the terror group to 419 since the war began in October.
On Tuesday (20th), the Iran-backed terror group launched some 135 rockets and drones at Israel in response to Israeli attacks. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a ground-to-air missile fired at an Israeli fighter jet, and for 12 attacks on Israel in the course of the day.
Police, Shin Bet Thwart Molotov Cocktail Terror Attack In Northern Israel
Northern District police officers thwarted a terrorist attack cell just minutes before it was about to carry out an attack that involved throwing Molotov cocktails at vehicles on Route 85.
On Wednesday morning (21st), following a joint investigation by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the Central Unit of the Northern District, an indictment was filed against those involved.
The incident occurred about two weeks ago as part of the ongoing efforts to secure strategic points and main routes in northern Israel. At about 4:30 a.m., police noticed two youths dressed in black clothing in a parking lot near the Gilon Junction, holding a specific object.
During an examination of the cell, officers identified that the two had finished preparing several Molotov cocktails filled with fuel. Additionally, evidence was found at the scene that raised the officers’ suspicions that the two planned, based on nationalistic motives, to throw Molotov cocktails onto Route 85 at passing vehicles. The two were arrested and transferred for a joint investigation by the Shin Bet and the Central Unit of the Northern District.
The investigation revealed that the cell had arrived during the night at a gas station near their residence, where they filled a fuel container. They then continued on electric bicycles to a parking lot near the Gilon Junction and began preparing the Molotov cocktails, documenting their actions on a phone they had with them.
The investigation further revealed that the two intended to throw the Molotov cocktails at vehicles passing near the Gilon Junction, claiming that the vehicles to be targeted would belong to Jewish residents.
In addition, the suspects had equipped themselves with a charcoal lighter, with which they planned to set the nearby Gilon forest on fire, also for nationalistic reasons.
Following a joint Shin Bet and police investigation, an indictment was filed against the two suspects in the Haifa District Court on Wednesday morning (21st).
Netanyahu: Unclear If There Will Be A Deal, We Will Not Exit Key Corridors
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday (20th) met with representatives from the Heroes Forum for fallen soldiers, and the Tikva Forum for the families of hostages, discussing with them the negotiations for a new ceasefire-Prisoner swap deal with the Hamas terror group.
The families demanded that Netanyahu continue to stand firm under pressures from terrorists operating in Israel’s north and south. The families also expressed opposition to a prisoner swap deal which would see Israel end the war, give up key strategic assets and include as well the mass release of convicted terrorists with blood on their hands. A similar deal in 2011 to free kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit saw the release of 1,027 terrorist prisoners, among them Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the October 7 massacre and kidnappings.
Speaking to the families, Netanyahu said, “Israel will not exit, in any situation, the Philadelphi Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor, despite the enormous pressure on us to do so.”
The Philadelphi Corridor runs along the Egypt-Gaza border, while the Netzarim Corridor separates northern Gaza from southern Gaza, and allows Israel to ensure weapons are not brought from one area to another.
Netanyahu added, “The military pressure will continue with full force – that is the only thing that causes Hamas to lower its unreasonable expectations.”
He said that “last night’s operation to bring back hostages’ bodies is one more of the operations that we do. I cannot detail everything – we are working on these and additional operations on a constant basis.”
Netanyahu also warned that a deal may not happen. “I am not sure that there will be a deal, but if there is a deal – the deal will be one which protects the interests which I speak about again and again, which protects Israel’s strategic assets. The demand for more, that there are negotiations, even in the future – is an unacceptable demand. Even if there is a deal, immediately after 42 days, we will return to fighting, until we eliminate Hamas – even while negotiating the next stages.”
Iran Cannot Maintain A Full-Blown War With Israel
Iran is not eager to fight a full-scale, lengthy war with Israel and may welcome outside mediation from the US to prevent escalation, says the founder of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC).
The IRGC was founded in 1979 following the Iranian revolution to protect the new Islamic government when many in the regular army were still loyal to the deposed Shah.
Mohsen Sazegara, one of the founders of the IRGC, in an exclusive report, spoke to the Jerusalem Post from the United States, where he emigrated after leaving Iran decades ago.
He spoke of the embarrassment and disorder created in Iran following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and the reluctance of the Iranian government to pursue a full war with Israel given the economic position of Iran and the lack of the mandate for war among the Iranian public.
“What Israel did, I mean the alleged assassination of Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh, in the heart of Tehran, in one of the most protected places, was a humiliation for the intelligence organizations of Iran,” Sazegara stated. “This has created a problem for Khamenei among the main powerbase – the intelligence services.”
Sazegara explained that after Haniyeh was assassinated, Khamenei urged immediate retaliation against Israel until Iran’s military commanders said Iran was “in no position to fight Israel.”
Sazegara explained that the military told Khamenei, “They can send missiles toward Israel, especially hypersonic missiles that can reach Israel in six to eight minutes. But when Israel retaliates, then we can’t defend the country, especially air defense.”
“Iran is not in a position to fight Israel,” Sazegara added. “They emphasized that ‘even if we launch an attack, we should immediately consider a ceasefire with international mediators.’”
Sazegara posited that Iran urged the US to tell Israel not to retaliate if Iran attacks to avoid escalation.
He said, “Iran asked the US to put pressure on Israel not to retaliate enough to escalate. But this time the US disagreed and told them that we can’t prevent israel.”
Sazegara said the three main reasons Iran doesn’t want a full war with Israel are: the possibility of losing the war, the downward pressure on an already weak Iranian economy, and the lack of support among Iranians for a war with Israel.
So Now We’re Not Allowed To Eliminate Terrorists? – Yair Lapid
• Twelve innocent children were killed by Hezbollah at a soccer field in Northern Israel. A few days later, Israel eliminated a senior Hezbollah terrorist in a surgical strike in Lebanon in response. Yet, Israel is expected to endure a massive attack from Hezbollah as if this is an inevitable, even justified, response. A few days later, a senior Hamas terrorist was killed in Tehran. Again, Israel is expected to face volleys of rockets and drones in response.
• Too many are acting as if this is a reasonable equation. The Iranian president has stated that they have a “right to respond,” while the leader of Hezbollah said Israel has crossed some sort of “red line” and a response would be inevitable. But why should a response be “inevitable?”
• When the US eliminated Osama bin Laden, no one thought it justified an al-Qaeda attack on Washington or New York. When al-Baghdadi was killed in Syria, no one expected the US to calmly accept the inevitable revenge of ISIS. Terrorists don’t play by the rules, yet today the world behaves as if their rules are reasonable. Those who kill terrorists must consider that their feelings might get hurt so that we have no choice but to accept their revenge.
• We have a choice. There is good and evil in the world. Liberal democracies represent justice, morality and freedom, while terrorists are murderers who want to rob us of our way of life and slaughter our children. Terrorists have no right to retaliate. They live and operate outside the law, and we are justified in making them pay the price.
• By what moral code should Israel accept rocket barrages from terrorist organizations and rogue states? It equates a legitimate defensive action by a law-abiding state with the blatantly illegal actions of a terrorist organization. And of course, what starts in Israel never stays in Israel. If tolerance for terrorist retaliation becomes the new international norm, sooner or later it will affect everyone.
• Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas cannot attack Israel and there can be no justification for it. If they do choose to attack, the West should stand behind Israel’s response.
The writer is a former prime minister of Israel and currently the leader of the Opposition in the Knesset.
Gilad Erdan: ‘The Jerusalem UN Building Needs To Be Closed And Erased From The Face Of The Earth’
Israel’s former Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, has recently intensified his rhetoric against the UN and its affiliated bodies. In an interview with Yigal Ravid on i24News, Erdan boldly states: “The UN building in Jerusalem needs to be closed and erased from the face of the earth. This building may look beautiful on the outside, but it is crooked and distorted from within.”
Last month, Erdan was quoted as saying: “We must take unprecedented steps against the UN such as closing the UN compound in Jerusalem and expelling the heads of the agencies stationed in Israel, to send a clear and unequivocal message that the continued bias and exploitation of the UN against Israel will come at a price.”
These remarks were made in response to the anti-Israel decision by the International Court Of Justice in The Hague: “The distorted and immoral decision of the Court is part of a long series of UN decisions, institutions, and organizations against Israel.”
Errdan added, “The opinion is not legally binding, and we will work to nullify it and ensure that it has no practical consequences on the ground. I have no doubt that the United States will veto any anti-Israel decision that may be brought to the Security Council following the Court’s decision.”
Regarding his future political aspirations, Erdan stated: “I know I have a mission. I see myself perhaps leading the Likud in the future after the Netanyahu era.”
