Hezbollah, Lebanon, Iran, and Israel
First, here’s Caroline Glick:
Today’s news is that Israel has struck an area said to be Hezbollah’s and leader Nasrallah’s headquarters. The former seems to be true, although the truth of the latter – and any resultant damage to Nasrallah himself – is unknown. Here is an article from Axios regarding Nasrallah and the attack:
Israel conducted an airstrike on Friday targeting Hezbollah’s central headquarters in Beirut in an apparent attempt to kill the group’s leadership. …
Israeli officials say senior Hezbollah officials were at the headquarters at the time of the attack. There has been no official response so far from Hezbollah on the attack or on Nasrallah’s status. The Israeli source said the Israel Defense Forces did not yet have confirmation of whether he was hit. …
IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari described the attack as a “precise strike on the central HQ of Hezbollah, which was intentionally built under residential buildings in Beirut in order to use them as human shields.” …
An Israeli official said Israel notified the U.S. minutes before the strike in Beirut, but two senior U.S. officials denied that, telling Axios they had no prior warning.
If I had to guess, I’d say that Israel was targeting the entire Hezbollah leadership and Nasrallah would be included in that. Note also that Hezbollah uses the same modus operandi as Hamas – that is, the use of headquarters and operations underneath civilian structures, the better to be able to talk about innocent casualties at Israel’s hands and/or to deter Israel from striking in the first place.
And of course Israel wouldn’t tell the US in advance, because of the risk of sabotage through leaks. This administration has made its opposition very clear. Not only that, but this announcement was made Wednesday by the US: “the U.S. military is not providing intelligence support to Israel for its operations in Lebanon.” So I see no reason Israel should provide any intelligence about the planned strike to the US.
The Axios article adds:
Friday’s attack is another clear escalation from Israel and suggests Netanyahu’s government has little interest in a ceasefire.
And yet there’s no mention in the article of just why that might be – nothing about the fact that Hezbollah has been sending rockets into Israel on a daily basis since October 8, has been “escalating” its own forces in readiness for a huge attack on Israel, and that between 60,000 and 100,000 Israelis have been forced out of their homes for nearly a year and many of those homes have been destroyed by Hezbollah.
What else is missing from the article? Why, it’s the word “Iran.”
Lastly, it becomes quite apparent that Israel could have done this sort of thing previously. It doesn’t seem to lack for intelligence on Hezbollah, to say the least. But it has desisted because of world opinion and its own desire for peace and not to “escalate” things. But now Israel and its leaders have been made well aware that this is no way out but preemptive actions of this nature, because this really is that sometimes-overused word: an existential battle.
I’m still not understanding why Israel must offer a 2-state solution to a people intent on destroying Israel?
From the article:
As the saying goes, it takes two to tango. Does Hezbollah want a ceasefire? Hezbollah has made it clear, by daily rocket attacks for nearly a year, that it won’t stop rocket attacks until there is a ceasefire in Gaza. Hezbollah’s rocket attacks have continued after “grim beeper,” “from liver to the knee,” and the last week’s repeated attacks on Hezbollah muckety-mucks and weaponry.
I had read years ago that Nasrallah was located underneath a hospital. Maybe that has changed. I am glad that the IDF is going after him. I recently saw a picture of Hezbollah muckety-mucks: IDF had cancelled all but two. Now all but one?
Lebanese demographics have changed in the last decade, as a result of a lot of Sunni refugees from Syria. I believe I read that with the refugees, Shiites are now about 20% of Lebanon’s population. Given the support that Hezbollah has given Assad, it is ironic that the Syrian refugees came to Lebanon. I doubt they have the warm fuzzies for Hezbollah. but Hezbollah has the guns.
I wonder if there are enough armed Lebanese who would want to attack the Iranian embassy.
Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran have repeatedly made it clear that their goal is the elimination of the state of Israel. Which definitely makes it existential for Israel.
James, you—and others—might be interested in this…
(Warning: It ain’t pretty and it’s a bit on the long side, but the point of it is pretty clear soon enough….)
” ‘The Palestinian Delusion’: Catastrophe in the Middle East;
“The most important book on the Jihad against Israel in existence. This is the book about which there is no delusion….”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/396830
– – – – – – – –
+ Bonus:
“IDF strikes Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut, Nasrallah targeted;
“Nasrallah’s exact fate is unknown at this time…”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/396850
Meanwhile, secondary explosions, redux
https://x.com/clashreport/status/1839690723894939656
H/T Instapundit.
File under: Nothing says “RESISTANCE” like storing huge amounts of weaponry and materiel inside cities (let alone schools and hospitals (or private homes in villages)…
And from the “To Be Expected” File….
“John Kirby: Netanyahu should be asked if he retracted his agreement to a ceasefire”—
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/396810
Though I’m pretty sure that this headline was doctored—no doubt it originally read…
“John Kirby: Netanyahu should be asked if he’s stopped beating his wife.”
(Of course, such a strong and resolute message is what everyone should want from one’s “best and strongest ally”(TM)…)
Wait! There’s more!! (This time from the “Hey, Don’t Ask Me” Dossier)…
“Biden: We had no knowledge or participation strikes Beirut;
“US President asked about Israel’s strike on Hezbollah’s command center in Beirut: We had no knowledge or participation, we’re still gathering information.”—
(Though to be fair to the “President”, at this stage it is entirely uncertain of exactly what Biden has ANY knowledge….)
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/396851
Continuing with our avid fascination with
“Kirby”“Biden”-ball:“No, Bibi didn’t agree to the insane Biden-Macron proposal…”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/396822
(BTW, remind me again: Why are we quoting from Axios???)
Barry Meislin:
Because I read that it was Axios who broke the story that Nasrallah might be the target.
They’re not done
https://x.com/sentdefender/status/1839760121531957294
Leaflet images at link.
In for a dime, in for a dollar.
Syrians and Iranians are celebrating with sweets, as they do.
And firing Kalashnikovs into the air, for what would be a celebration without firing a Kalashnikov into the air?.
https://x.com/Doranimated/status/1839771807752303024
A hudna is not a ceasefire we should have learned this after 06 12 14 21
Silence is golden. No word from Hezbollah, or Nasrullah, following the strike.
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2024/09/27/did-israel-get-nasrallah-n3795096
“senior Hezbollah officials were at the headquarters at the time of the attack.”
There are some left? Senior because six levels above you have disappeared in a cloud of Jewish Dust. Do you really want to be labeled as “Senior Official”?
Very nice.