News Digest — 9/20/24
IDF Hits More Than 100 Loaded Hezbollah Launchers In Series Of Major Lebanon Strikes
Israel carried out dozens of strikes on Thursday (19th) across southern Lebanon, in what Lebanese security sources said were some of the most intense bombings since Hezbollah began daily cross-border attacks on northern Communities after the start of the Gaza war on October 7.
The military said fighter jets had struck over 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon that were primed for immediate attacks on Israel. It said that in total, the launchers included around 1,000 launch barrels.
Several buildings and a weapons depot belonging to Hezbollah were also struck in several areas of southern Lebanon, according to the military.
The strikes began in the afternoon and were carried out in several waves.
“The IDF continues to damage and degrade the terror capabilities and military infrastructure of the Hezbollah terror organization,” the military added.
The major airstrikes came after a heavy barrage of rockets from Lebanon on northern communities, and as the Israeli defense establishment put preparations for a possible all-out war with Hezbollah into full gear.
Eli Bin, head of the Magen David Adom rescue services, told the Ynet news site that he had received reports that an MDA station in Metula suffered a direct hit. There were no injuries reported, he said.
Earlier on Thursday (19th), two IDF soldiers, Maj. (res.) Nael Fwarsy, 43, a logistics company commander from Maghar, and Sgt. Tomer Keren, 20, of the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, from Haifa, were killed in Hezbollah missile and drone attacks on northern Israel. Nine soldiers were also wounded in the attacks.
Also Thursday (19th), as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivered a televised address, vowing revenge on Israel for this week’s deadly wave of explosions of portable devices belonging to the terrorist group’s operatives in Lebanon and Syria, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held a situational assessment on what he called “a new phase in the war.”
Gallant said that the IDF would continue strikes in Lebanon in order to fulfill the newly officialized war goal of returning displaced northern residents to their homes.
“Hezbollah is feeling persecuted,” he said in a video statement. “There are significant opportunities, but also heavy risks.”
“The sequence of our military operations will continue,” Gallant said during a meeting with the IDF’s top brass and other defense officials.
The major airstrikes in Lebanon came as Israeli military officials were set to present the political echelon, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with various plans for the northern front during a meeting on Thursday evening (19th), amid the heightened tensions.
The IDF has been on heightened alert following the recent events in Lebanon, and expects that the coming days may also be intense.
Israel has not taken responsibility for the communication device attacks in Lebanon in the past two days that killed dozens of people, the majority of them terror operatives, and injured thousands.
In the past few days, the IDF has been holding continuous assessments, and presenting plans to the political echelon. Earlier on Thursday evening (19th), IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi approved new battle plans.
So far, there have been no changes to guidelines for civilians, though the IDF has said it would update the public immediately if there are any developments.
‘You Dared To Strike At Israel, Now They’ve Set You Back 1,000 Years’ – Arab Commentator Mocks Hezbollah
A journalist and strategic analyst focusing on Middle Eastern affairs from the United Arab Emirates took aim at Iranian-backed anti-Israel groups Wednesday (18th), castigating them for the attacks on Israel on October 7, and mocking Hezbollah after a pair of apparent Israeli attacks left thousands of terrorists injured.
Amjad Taha, author of The Deception of the Arab Spring, excoriated Hamas and Hezbollah in a tweet Wednesday night (18th), while cheering a pair of attacks – widely attributed to Israel – targeting Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon and Syria.
“You dared to strike at a smart and courageous nation on October 7 – committing genocide, kidnapping their children, and violating their women,” Taha wrote.
“You thought they would fall, but they rose again, returning after 11 months to correct what had only momentarily slipped – their intelligence. Now, they will send you back 1,000 years, to a time without technology, where a ringtone feels like a death knell and a beep is a nightmare.”
Taha praised Israel for accomplishing what he dubbed a “victory” for “all who stand against terror.”
“You will be haunted by your own shadow, too afraid to use any technology, cut off from the advanced world. And they will defeat you – not with bullets or tanks, but through the unbreakable will of brave, intelligent people.”
“Over a simple cup of coffee, with one decisive click, they will seal your fate, and the fate of anyone who dares to harm their children. This is a nation the world respects. Lebanon – Hezbollah’s pager attacks and today’s V82 strike are not merely military victories; they represent a triumph for the Middle East over radicalism – a victory not only for Israel but for all who stand against terror.”
In another tweet Wednesday (18th), Taha castigated Hezbollah for its involvement during the Syrian civil war, celebrating Israel’s targeted attacks on Hezbollah operatives – detonating pagers and hand-held radios on Tuesday (17th and Wednesday (18th).
“This terrorist organization, which has displaced millions of Muslims, Arabs, Jews, and Christians from northern Israel by attacking hospitals and schools, is being systematically dismantled. Many admire Israel’s effective methods in eliminating these savage terrorist animals in Lebanon.”
A long-time critic of Hezbollah, in June, Taha compared the terrorist group to Nazi Germany.
Hezbollah, Taha said, is “not different from Nazi Germany.”
‘If Israel’s Critics Can’t Control Hezbollah, Be Quiet, And Get Out Of The Way’ – David Friedman
Former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman pushed back at Israel’s critics following the explosion of thousands of Hezbollah communications devices in Lebanon this week.
“Memo to the USA/rest of the world: You say you don’t want a war in Lebanon. So then bring Israel a deal where its citizens are safe to go home. Israel has no territorial aspirations towards Lebanese soil. It just wants peace,” Friedman wrote on X on Thursday (19th).
“But,” he said, “If you can’t control Hezbollah, just be quiet and get out of the way and let Israel do the world a favor by defeating these terrorists.”
On Tuesday (17th), thousands of pagers recently purchased by Hezbollah exploded in the pockets and hands of Hezbollah operatives. The following day, radios and walkie-talkies purchased about the same time as the beepers also exploded.
According to official reports, 12 people were killed in Tuesday’s (17th) beeper explosions and 14 were killed when hand-held radios exploded on Wednesday (18th). Nearly all of these were Hezbollah terrorists.
In Israel, however, estimates are that the official figures are far lower than the truth, and that many dozens, if not more, people were killed in the blasts.
It is also estimated that the blasts significantly harmed Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, which lost a large portion of its command chain.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah spoke to the public on Thursday afternoon (19th) for the first time since the explosions occurred.
The Only Deal Hamas Wants: Israel’s Surrender – Bassam Tawil
On Sept. 12, Hamas repeated its demand that Israel withdraw completely from Gaza in order to reach a ceasefire-hostage agreement. In other words, Hamas is demanding that Israel lose the war so that the terrorist group can regroup, rearm and prepare for more attacks on Israel.
Ending the war now means an Israeli surrender, ensuring that Hamas can continue to control Gaza. Hamas wants to see Israel defeated and humiliated . The terror group seeks to proclaim victory and send a message to Israel’s enemies that the Oct. 7 atrocities were worth the high cost that Palestinians in Gaza have paid. Hamas is willing to fight to the last Palestinian and does not care if tens of thousands of its own people lose their lives as a result of the war it began.
To understand the real intentions and aims of Hamas, just look at what it is saying in Arabic. Hamas and its allies are saying that the only deal they would accept is one that results in Israel raising a white flag.
If Hamas is permitted to win the war, Iran and its other terror proxies will feel more empowered. This will convey to Muslim Jihadis worldwide that Israel and the West are too weak to protect their people and values against Islamist terror organizations. This weakness will lead to more terrorism, not only against Israel, but also against the U.S. and most Western nations. (Gatestone Institute)
The Battle Israel Faces Is About Upholding Civilization Itself – Allister Heath – (Telegraph-UK)
Bereft of any sense of right and wrong, incapable of distinguishing heroes from villains, the West can no longer celebrate when good triumphs over evil. Israel’s brilliantly audacious booby-trapping of thousands of Hezbollah pagers, followed by the blowing up of the terror group’s walkie-talkies, is a stunning boost for the forces of civilization worldwide.
A tiny nation of just 9.3 million, of which 7.2 are Jewish, living in a country the size of Wales, reeling from the worst anti-Semitic pogroms since the Holocaust, Israel is leading the war against barbarism. The fact that so many in Britain, Europe and America no longer take Israel’s side in this existential combat exemplifies our cultural, intellectual and ethical degeneration.
The Biden administration is obsessed with preventing “escalation,” even though that is what is required if Iran is to be stopped from gaining the means to wage a nuclear World War III. In a rational world, David Lammy, Britain’s foreign secretary, would be privately congratulating his Israeli counterparts for the most successful surgical operation ever conducted against a terrorist organization, with a few civilian casualties, and pledging Britain’s help.
Pacifism is a deluded utopia that fails to grasp the reality of the human condition. It is madness to criminalize all warfare, and despicable to focus on that conducted by democracies and ignore that advanced by our enemies.
Israel is the supreme embodiment of law-bound national, democratic sovereignty, of peoplehood, of matching a nation to a state, of post-imperialism, of capitalism and technology, and of the continued relevance of the monotheistic religions.
If you tear down Israel, you destroy the very ideas that underpin the West, the international order implodes and the autocracies triumph. The stakes are thus unbelievably high. We must support Israel, and allow it to finish the job of annihilating Hamas and defeating Hezbollah.
