BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – STORIES
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After enduring nearly a year of bombardment of northern Israel from Hezbollah rockets, missiles and drones attacking their towns and villages, Israel struck back with surgical precision targeting terrorist leaders using explosive beepers and walkie-talkies. Israel’s extraordinary counterattack was followed by airstrikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah arsenals and rocket launchers triggering a new phase in the conflict. Despite more than 8,000 rockets, missiles and drones raining down on Israel since October 8, a chorus of condemnations from leaders around the world criticized Israel, ignoring the sustained terrorist barrages that have dislocated 60,000 Israelis from their homes.
Hezbollah Intensifies Assault Against Israel: ‘We live in fear’
Hezbollah’s under-reported war against Israel continues to escalate as its massive arsenal of armaments are reaching cities deeper into the Jewish state. Once-vibrant northern communities now stand desolate, leaving once-thriving businesses and tourist destinations deserted. Israeli hospitals were forced to relocate patients into a fortified underground bunker. The largest hospital in the north has once again become the world’s largest underground hospital, transforming its parking lot into a medical facility with more than 2,000 beds.
The Underground Emergency Hospital at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa was prepared for receiving patients following the outbreak of war, Oct. 11, 2023, and is being prepared again. (Courtesy of Rambam)
As rocket sirens wail incessantly across northern Israel, including Nazareth – known as the Arab capital of Israel – tragedy strikes. Hezbollah’s rockets claim indiscriminate victims – Jews, Druze, Muslims and Christians. A Hezbollah rocket killed 12 Druze children playing soccer in one particularly horrific incident in June. An Israeli regional leader described life on the border: “For the past year, we’ve lived in chaos, consumed by fear and helplessness.”
Israeli jets shot down a drone launched by an Iran-backed militia in Iraq and destroyed more than 100 loaded Hezbollah launchers, preventing an imminent attack – part of Operation Northern Arrows. The military is striking “infrastructure that Hezbollah built up for years,” but faces difficulty because – like Hamas – Hezbollah stores weapons and rocket launchers in civilian neighborhoods, making it difficult to neutralize threats without endangering innocent lives. The Lebanese are like hostages in Hezbollah’s grip that effectively controls their country.
The Iran-backed group – described by experts as “the world’s most heavily armed non-state actor” and “a militia trained like an army and equipped like a state” – holds a vast arsenal of 150,000 rockets aimed directly at Israeli cities. Hezbollah continues to vow Israel’s destruction, as its arsenal can be continuously resupplied by its Iranian masters through neighboring Syria, another Iranian ally. The weapons include sophisticated long-range missiles that can reach all of Israel with highly destructive warheads.
Former Hezbollah Fighter: ‘Brainwashing starts in childhood’
A chilling video series – “Hezbollah’s Hostages” – recently released by the Center For Peace Communications and The Free Press exposes Hezbollah’s manipulation of Lebanese civilians. One ex-combatant: “We’re programmed starting in childhood. When you are older, they recruit you to join Hezbollah. They start you off with religious courses, then fighting courses. I said I wanted to go to battle. We had endless amounts of cash and worked with the Syrian army and Iran. After a serious leg injury, I left Hezbollah and started working in a hotel. I worked with people of different religions and nationalities. I started thinking. I finally opened my mind and I had become free. Now, if you bring me an Israeli soldier, the Syrian dictator and a gun, and tell me to kill my enemy, I will kill Assad.”
Espionage Thriller: Explosive Pager Wounds Iranian Ambassador
In a scene straight out of a spy novel, Israel is suspected of deploying a technological innovation – explosive pagers and walkie-talkies. These seemingly harmless devices were secretly embedded with explosives handed out to Hezbollah leaders – not rank-and-file militants – five months ago after Hezbollah turned to low-tech, older communication systems to avoid Israeli surveillance. The Lebanese Health Ministry claimed that more than 30 were killed and thousands injured. The attacks crippled Hezbollah’s ability to communicate and coordinate with its forces.
According to a news report, each device was designed to harm only the terrorist carrying it. Among the injured apparently was the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, who lost an eye after looking at the pager when it beeped – further proof of his involvement in Hezbollah’s operations. This is perhaps ironic, since the Iranian regime blinded more than 120 of its citizens during 2022 protests for women’s rights. Israel has not confirmed its role in building and supplying the pagers and walkie-talkies, but Iran demanded the United Nations chief condemn the attacks. The Iranian regime’s terror group banned its members from using any communication device.
Worldwide press coverage downplayed the Hezbollah rocket attacks and sensationalized Israel’s reaction erroneously as a ‘major escalation.’ Not to be outdone, the anti-Israel Wikipedia editors who recently redefined Zionism to fit their narrative, falsely labeled the pager attacks ‘terrorist incidents.’
U.S. Connection: IDF Kills Hezbollah Leader Responsible for Murdering Americans
On the 40th anniversary of Hezbollah’s 1984 suicide bombing of the U.S. embassy annex in Beirut that killed 23, the Israel Defense Forces took out a senior Hezbollah commander. The U.S. State Dept. branded Ibrahim Aqil a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2019 and there was a $7 million bounty on his head. He was directly responsible for the 1983 bombings of the U.S. embassy that killed 63 individuals and the U.S. Marine Barracks bombing that killed 241 Americans. Before he was killed, his latest plot was a 10/7-style attack to raid Israel and massacre Israeli civilians.
Blame Israel: UN Expresses ‘Solidarity’ with Terrorists
Perversely, the UN swiftly condemned Israel’s efforts to target terrorists while continuing to overlook Hezbollah’s sustained attacks and the 101 hostages held by Hamas. Despite Hezbollah and Hamas openly calling for Israel’s destruction, the UN has consistently failed to classify them as terrorist organizations. Instead, responding to the beeper blasts, UN human rights experts “expressed our deepest solidarity to the victims of these attacks.”
The UN is deeply involved in this conflict. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been repeatedly condemned as a failure. The ‘interim’ peacekeeping forces have been present for nearly 50 years in southern Lebanon to “restore international peace and security.” Not only has it proven ineffective, Hezbollah and multiple Palestinian terrorist organizations were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of UNIFIL peacekeepers.
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American Jewish News sources:
Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) | Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) | The Algemeiner | Jewish Insider | Forward
Israeli News Sources (in English):
Times of Israel | The Jerusalem Post | Ynet News | i24 News | Israel National News, Arutz 7 | Israel HaYom | Ha’aretz
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