Today’s Image
An air strike on a major weapons storage and manufacturing facility in Hezbollah’s Beqaa Valley. You can see in this photo much of the after-strike explosions showing how much of their weapons were stored there. I link to many recorded videos of these strikes below. It was a busy day for the Israeli Air Force IAF in Lebanon today. But after 12 months it is about time we act to bring back our citizens to their homes in the north. More than 70,000 people have been living like refugees due to Hezbollah’s daily rocket attacks on our communities in the north. No one in Europe, nor the UN said or did a single thing about it. Only when Israel defends itself do people act… against us.
Casualties
There were no casualties reported by the IDF in the last 2 days. Those cows murdered by Hezbollah have been laid to rest.
Rockets & Missiles
No rockets launched from Gaza crossed into Israeli air space in the past 8 days.
Hezbollah launched more than 200 rockets today, some of them long range. Ten of them struck nearby an Arab village in Samaria (West Bank). You can see a short video taken at the site where the rocket fell here. More than 25 rockets were fired into the Upper Galilee, near Haifa and the Wadi Ara areas, including the Israeli Arab towns of Sakhnin and Umm al-Facham. Also, suburban areas surrounding Haifa were also targeted. One man was moderately wounded by shrapnel scattered in one of the rocket interceptions. Most of the rockets were neutralized by Israeli air defenses. But there were direct hits in Kiryat Tiv’on, a suburb of Haifa, and Yokneam, a high tech city about 20 km outside Haifa. No one was hurt but there was damage to several buildings. Many rockets landed in open areas starting fires, most of which are now under control.
A resident of one of the homes hit yesterday by one of Hezbollah’s rockets was interviewed today on Israeli TV. He said that he and his family were “30 seconds and three centimeters” from death, and were only saved because they ran to their reinforced room and shut the door when the sirens sounded. “I was in the middle of a phone call for work outside when the siren started. I entered the house and went into the reinforced room,” he said. “It was a matter of 30 seconds and then we heard an unbelievable explosion. I immediately realized it had hit the house.” He is getting a lot of coverage in the media because they and the government want everyone to take the Home Front Commands seriously and to take cover when the sirens sound.
Lebanon Operations
Well, the IDF is on a roll…. After taking out the entire leadership of Hezbollah’s Radwan unit in the Friday air missile strike in the Dehiyah neighborhood of Beirut (the Hezbollah stronghold) the IDF conducted a fighter jet attack again in the same area, this time targeting Ali Karaki, recently appointed to replace Aqil who was killed in the previous Dehiyah air attack. It is not known yet if the IDF succeeded in killing Karaki. If you look at the Hezbollah organization chart I published last Saturday evening (my time) you will see Karaki as one of the only two senior members of Hezbollah left alive. He was not at that fateful meeting. At the time I am publishing this post, it is not clear yet whether Karaki survived or not. Britain’s Sky News, with reporters on the ground in Beirut, are reporting that Karaki was killed. Here in Israel the assessment is that he is dead, but Hezbollah claims that he is still alive. In the past, Hezbollah has generally confirmed whether or not something like this happened. Moreover, Sky News also reports that Ali Abu Ria was also killed in the report. He was the other remaining survivor of Hezbollah leadership. You will also see his name on the “most wanted org chart” I posted yesterday. But perhaps this is getting too embarrassing for them to deal with?
You might ask yourself the logical question as to how Israel can get so much intelligence and so quickly about the whereabouts of senior Hezbollah officials? Well, it could only happen if there were a lot of pissed off Lebanese citizens who hate Hezbollah and are most willing to provide the intelligence to the IDF.
Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman delivered a broadcast message in Arabic targeting the few remaining residents in Southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes, if Hezbollah stored weapons in those homes. Here you can see a video clip showing families evacuating. Residents are receiving phone calls fro a Lebanese phone number warning them to leave. Adraee said:
If you are inside or near a house containing Hezbollah weapons, you must leave… within two hours to a distance of no less than 1,000 meters outside the village, or go to the central school near you and do not return until further notice.
Virtually every single home in Southern Lebanon doubles as a weapons store room and launching pad. Hezbollah had a policy to build homes for free or at a subsidized price in return for installing missile and rocket launchers in the living space. They even pay the family a monthly stipend for housing a missile. I wonder if these families advertise on AirBNB? It might look like this:
Rocket Bed & Breakfast
www.rocketbnb.co.lb
Need a room to store your missile or rocket. We have a beautifully situated home with a special “rocket room” customized to accommodate your rocket. It is only 4 km from the Israeli border so you can launch it, see it land and get back in time for afternoon tea. Rooms available for rent on a monthly or annual basis. Discounts offered if you sign up for a year. Nothing like sitting down to dinner knowing that right above your head is a missile ready to be launched or explode??
You should watch this 4 minute video of IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari as he repeats the request to residents of Southern Lebanon, but in English. His statement is accompanied by videos showing where/how Hezbollah has stored missiles and launchers in homes. I think that many of these RocketBNBs will soon be taken off the market. Too bad they didn’t bother to build a bomb shelter underneath the missile room. What a shame. I was looking for a place to store my pet cruise missile this winter. So here is a question for you human rights advocates:
If someone receives money to store a missile and is paid when ordered to launch it, are they a civilian or a combatant? If a combatant, why the @#$% is the IDF giving them any advanced warning to evacuate??
Israel targeted more than 1,000 Hezbollah sites today using drones, artillery and fighter jets. The attacks were focused on both southern Lebanon and eastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley after theIDF gave civilians more than 2 hour warning to evacuate. All these messages to residents to evacuate are sent via mobile phone SMS and phone calls, all in Arabic. Here you can see a video that shows how the residents of these area are being warned - over radio broadcast as well as on mobile phones. You should watch this 01:35 min video of a strike in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley. The explosions go on and on and on showing that this was clearly an arms storage facility. And here is another one. And here is one taken in Southern Lebanon near Aanqoun and Sidon. You can also see the secondary explosions. But this is the best one. Here you can see a rocket being fired from a struck home hitting an adjacent home. I wonder if one can start a chain reaction in Lebanon this way??? Altogether more than 80.000 automated phone calls were made from a Lebanese phone number to residents of south Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley to leave their homes.
Some of the rockets stored underground in the eastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley are cruise missiles with a range of hundreds of km.
On Israel’s Channel 12 TV program this afternoon one of their Middle East analysis’s, Edud Ya’ari said that the in the Beqaa Valley, the IAF (Israel Air Force) is targeting Hezbollah’s stockpile of long range missiles. According to him The IAF won’t be able to destroy every missile but the goal is to broadly neutralize that threat. This move, he said, place Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah in a corner. His puppeteers in Tehran are opposing a major response as they do not want to lose Hezbollah. He said that they are even urging Nasrallah to stop firing altogether. “Nasrallah has to decide whether to fire on Tel Aviv, when he knows that the IDF’s response will be to level the Dahiyeh neighborhood in Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold.”
Just so you understand the backdrop of this…. Tehran values Hezbollah because it is not only the most effective fighting force near Israel but also because they train Iran’s other proxies in the region and propped up the Syrian Regime of President for Life Bashir Assad. If Hezbollah is crushed now it will set back Iran’s plans for many, many years.
UNIFIL, the UN oversight force in Southern Lebanon, has ordered its employees to evacuate with their families to locations north of the Litani River.
Gaza Operations
I reported yesterday on the rather strange rumor circulating that Yahya Sinwar was dead. This is because no one seems to have heard from him in some time. Perhaps he took a vacation to the Bahamas?? Today, IDF troops brought several bodies out of Gaza to have them checked via DNA testing. None of them suggested that they might have been Sinwar. Personally, I am guessing that the man is ill. Months in a dark, dank tunnel can’t be good for the lungs.
But, in an interview on the radio today, an unnamed IDF intelligence officer was quoted saying that the recent messages emerging from “Sinwar” are not in his handwriting, perhaps dictated. If so, perhaps it confirms my theory that the guy might be very sick.
Syria/Iran/Jordan/Egypt/Iraq/Turkiye
As you might remember about two weeks ago a former Jordanian soldier approached the border crossing with Israel at the Allenby Bridge across the Jordan River and opened fire killing three Israeli civilians. The Border Guards neutralized the soldier/terrorist and arrested two nearby Jordanian civilians. Today those civilians were returned to Jordan. Meantime, there has not been a single apology or word of regret from the Jordanian Peacock Throne. Instead, citizens in Amman started handing out sweets to locals in celebration of the attack.
Iran’s Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC ordered its members to sto using all communication devices. They use pagers and walkie-talkies like those used by Hezbollah.
A drone launched by Iraqi proxies of Iran was heading for Israel’s Golan Heights but was intercepted over Syrian air space.
IDF/Government
Defense Minister Gallant issued a statement after speaking with his staff at the Operations Directorate in the Kirya (equivalent of Pentagon). There he said:
In the past day, we are crushing what was built by Hezbollah for 20 years. Nasrallah remains alone at the helm, entire units of the Radwan Force were taken out of service, and tens of thousands of rockets were destroyed.
And Chief of Staff Lt. General Herzi Halevi said this today:
The IDF this morning launched a proactive offensive operation. We are taking [away] military infrastructure that Hezbollah built for 20 years. This is very significant. We are striking targets, preparing the next stages… in the end, everything needs to be aimed at creating the conditions to return the [displaced] residents of the north to their homes
Aid
According to COGAT 153 trucks worth of aid entered Gaza yesterday and were unloaded in the staging areas. Aid organizations picked up and distributed only 98 truck loads worth as aid continues to accumulate. Most of the neglect is coming from UN organizations. Read more here.
Hostages/Ceasefire
The US Biden Administration is trying to come up with new approaches to get the hostage/ceasefire proposal moving forward. They recently sent a draft proposal that no longer has three phases, but only one. It is being reviewed by the Israeli negotiating team. Hamas has rejected it. Recently, Israel has discussed a deal in which Hamas releases all the hostages after which all the leaders will be able to safely go into exile.
One of the most vocal parents of hostages in Gaza, Einav Zangauker, said during an interview on the radio this morning that based on information received by families from the IDF only about 30-35 hostages are believed to be alive now among the presumed 101 that were being held by Hamas. She also said that she does not expect any movement on the negotiations for a few months given Hamas’s intransigence, the war in the north and the upcoming US elections. She argued that Netanyahu had a chance at a deal several months ago, but elected to escalate the war instead. I think what she is referring to is the hostage deal back in November, 2023 when about 105 hostages were released over a 2 week ceasefire and many terrorists in Israeli prisons. It is rumored that at the end of the period, Hamas proposed to extend the deal for some period of time that would include more hostages in exchange for terrorists in prison. At the time Hamas wanted to trade 7 dead bodies and 3 living hostages, instead of the 10 living hostages they promised. So it is not clear what the woman is talking about.
Politics/Protests
The Union of Journalists in Israel issued a statement today condemning the IDF’s temporary closure of Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah. They said “The closure was made under a military order, subject to a confidential opinion, and it is not possible to know what is behind the decision to close the offices”. Their statement said that such moves should be backed by civilian authorities who can ensure due process.
It is “rally around the flag” these days. Nearly all the political leaders in the opposition have voiced their support for the IDF’s operations against Hezbollah.
International
Today, the UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric announced that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is alarmed by the escalating situation in Lebanon. Well, I am alarmed that he is alarmed.
Today, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati publicly denounced Israel’s strikes on Hezbollah targets in east and south Lebanon. He said “The continuing Israeli aggression on Lebanon is a war of extermination in every sense of the word and a destructive plan that aims to destroy Lebanese villages and towns.” I guess that he just woke up from a coma as he has said absolutely nothing in condemnation of the unprovoked Hezbollah attacks on Israel for the past 12 months.
Separately, Egypt and Iraq are appealing to the UN Security Council and General Assembly to host emergency sessions to castigate Israel for its operations in Lebanon. Leaders of both countries must have been in suspended animation for the last 12 months while Hezbollah has been pounding Israel’s north, in a totally unprovoked attack. Israel’s Foreign Minister filed a complaint with the UN Security Council regarding Hezbollah’s 12 months of rocket firing without any word from the UN. In his letter Katz insisted that Hezbollah comply with UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which requires Hezbollah to pull back its forces to north of the Litani River.
And here is a really bizarre story… Irish President Michael Higgins is accusing Israel of leaking the text of a letter he sent to Iran’s new president. (Why would Israel care?) Apparently the letter congratulates the new Iranian President Masood Pezeshkian and praised the leader saying that Iran will play a crucial role in achieving Middle East Stability (not Peace, but stability), etc. Apparently Higgins, during his visit to the UN to address the General Assembly, was being peppered for the contents of his letter. It is strange why a diplomat would be upset about letter being leaked to the press that contains nothing top secret but goes on to praise a despotic ruler overseeing a fascist, blood thirsty regime of fanatics. This is a daily occurrence for Irish diplomats. The Israeli Embassy to Ireland issued this statement:
The fact remains that the letter was written and therefore it is the burden of the author to defend its content, which did not mention the threat Iran poses in the region, that it calls for Israel’s destruction, that it arms and funds terrorist organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah, not to mention the violations of human rights against its own citizens.
You can read more here. And more here.
And In Your Copious Spare Time…
Great Britain’s once admired public broadcaster, BBC, known for its incredible reporting during WW2 and after has come under fire. The Telegraph, a competing UK Media giant, published the findings of the Asserson Report. This report comes from an independent British law firm that used Artificial Intelligence tools in an effort to examine the BBC’s reporting on The War. As you might expect, the results were pretty daring. This follows on a request by Sir Michael Ellis, one of Britain’s most prominent Jewish politicians, back in November 2023 for The BBC to release a previous report the Balen Report, that was recorded in 2004. The Balen Report also showed how The BBC was reporting a very skewed manner when it came to reporting on Israel, in a negative light. The BBC, so far, has refused to act or react to either report or the request.
You might find this interview with a female IDF commander of an Iron Dome unit interesting as she describes how she manages the intensity of her post in the north protecting the Israeli towns and cities from Hezbollah’s rocket barrages.