Hezbollah has fled from Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers in southern Lebanon and has refused to confront them in direct combat during the two months Israel has been clearing terrorist border positions there.
A senior Israeli Defense Force official told Breitbart News on condition that he not be named. [Hezbollah] They left the combat zone… contrary to their spirit, they did not stay and fight. There were not as many as they had claimed…all face-to-face battles ended with the elimination of enemy forces. ”
This official's claim is supported by the relatively low number of combat deaths of IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon. Although there were occasional ambushes and skirmishes, Hezbollah fighters generally abandoned their positions.
On October 8, 2023, Hezbollah positions withstood Israeli airstrikes for nearly 11 months after Hezbollah started the conflict by opening fire on Israeli border communities in solidarity with the previous day's Hamas terrorist attack. .
Israel also boldly used exploding pagers and walkie-talkies to eliminate senior Hezbollah commanders and destroy the group's communications network before launching a ground offensive in September.
The IDF's rout of Hezbollah and the terrorist group's inability to defend southern Lebanon is a blow to the prestige of the group, which has long maintained that its fighters are stronger than IDF soldiers.
Both sides are expected to accept a 60-day ceasefire within the next few days, ending the current stage of the conflict. Hezbollah may try to rebuild, but the strategic balance has shifted in Israel's favor.
Joel B. Pollack is a senior editor at Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday Sunday nights from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM ET (4:00 PM to 7:00 PM PT) on Sirius XM Patriot. he is the author of Agenda: What should President Trump do in his first 100 days?available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of Trumpian Virtues: Lessons and Legacy of the Donald Trump Presidencynow available on Audible. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter @joelpolak.
