Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Helgi Halevi said on Tuesday that Israel would not rest in its attacks on Hezbollah, after Israeli Air Force (IAF) warplanes launched a third wave of attacks in Lebanon.
The Israel Times Reported Halevi said: “Hezbollah must not be given a rest.” [We must] “We will continue to do everything in our power to stop this,” it said. The Israeli Air Force also dropped 2,000 shells on Hezbollah in the past 24 hours, the report said.
The Israeli offensive, officially named “Operation Northern Arrows”, appears to have two distinct tactics: On the one hand, Israel has been carrying out attacks targeting Hezbollah leaders and senior officials, including a pager attack last week.
Meanwhile, Israel is locating and destroying Hezbollah rocket launchers and missile silos, often hidden inside civilian buildings and near civilian infrastructure. Israel has told civilians to leave southern Lebanon.
“Today we have destroyed everything Hezbollah has built over the last 20 years. Nasrallah remains the only man at the top,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday, referring to the deaths of his men.
Hezbollah appears to have been surprised by the strength and precision of Israel's counterattack. Unlike the last war in 2006, when Hezbollah took the lead and Israel was unprepared for a protracted conflict, this time Israel is controlling the pace of the war. Hezbollah began the war on October 8 by shelling Israel without provocation. For several months, Israel simply responded to Hezbollah's artillery fire, but now Israel is moving forward with a more aggressive battle plan.
Israel's war goal is to end the Hezbollah threat to northern Israeli communities, 74 of which have been displaced for nearly a year, leaving 60,000 local Jewish and Arab residents internally displaced.
While Israeli intelligence was not adequately prepared for the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack, it has been preparing for the possibility of war with Hezbollah for the past 18 years, given the group's importance to Iran's regional strategy.
Hezbollah has been firing rockets at Israel for several days, but Israel's Iron Dome missile system has been able to intercept most of the rockets, some of which are aimed at Palestinian villages in the West Bank.
Lebanese civilians have heeded Israeli warnings to leave southern Lebanon and have clogged roads heading north for the past 24 hours, leaving some drivers short of fuel, food and water as the gridlock continues.
Israel also uses text messages and phone calls to warn residents before attacks to minimize civilian casualties, a tactic that Hezbollah has used successfully in the past to increase international pressure on Israel.
The IDF also regularly strikes targets in the capital Beirut, where the remaining Hezbollah leaders are believed to be hiding or meeting. Hezbollah's communications network was hit in a pager attack last week.
“Israel is not waiting for threats, it is pre-empting them,” Israeli government spokesman David Mensah told reporters on Tuesday, adding that it was looking to change the “balance of power” on the country's northern border.
For now, Hezbollah has no plans to withdraw from the border area. Required Something that should be implemented through UN Security Council Resolution 1701. Iran could intervene directly to support Hezbollah or through the Houthis or Iraqi militias.
But for now, Hezbollah finds itself in a strategic quandary: As Israeli attacks continue, it must decide whether to withstand the bombing and degrade its capabilities, or fight back and risk a larger Israeli counterattack.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday It airs Sundays from 7:00pm-10:00pm ET (4:00pm-7:00pm PT) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of the following books: Agenda: What President Trump Should Do in His First 100 Daysavailable for pre-order on Amazon. He also The Trump Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump's Presidencyavailable now on Audible. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
