Alwaght- Iran’s warning that the region could sink into a wide-ranging war came true sooner than the US and Israel regime expected and now a vast part of the region from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf is experiencing a major crisis that lacks a clear outlook for containing.
Meanwhile, given the decisive nature of this existential war, various branches of the Axis of Resistance are expected to join the new stages of conflict. In the first stage, as Hezbollah’s head Sheikh Naim Qassem had promised, since the very beginning hours of the Israeli-American aggression on Iran, the Lebanese resistance movement declared war on Israeli regime and reactivated the northern front conflict.
This conflict started last week with Hezbollah firing missiles and drones at Israeli sites and now developed to a new stage with Israeli army announcing a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
In the early hours of this ground assault, indiscriminate attacks on civilian locations and individuals resulted in casualties among residents who refused to leave Beirut and the border villages despite orders from the occupying army. In this context, Lebanon’s Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that 12 people were killed and 33 others wounded in the military aggression by the Israeli regime in the town of “Nabi Sheet” in the Bekaa region in eastern Lebanon. The ministry had also reported on Friday that 123 people had been killed and 683 others injured in various attacks throughout Lebanon.
Meanwhile, a reporter from Lebanese broadcaster Al-Mayadeen has reported that the Israeli regime has bombed the town of Nabi Sheet for the fifth time.
According to this report, the Israeli occupation military targeted the towns of Kfar Rumman, Haboush, Kafr Tabnit, and Srifa in southern Lebanon with warplanes.
Large-scale Hezbollah operations in North Litani
The indiscriminate Israeli actions against the Lebanese civilian were soon responded by Hezbollah fighters launching numerous targeted operations, including ambushes to the Israeli troops, border clashes, and drone and rocket strikes.
In a statement, Mahmoud Qomati, the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Political Council, asserted that the aim of the operations was to force Tel Aviv into commitment to the truce deal signed last year, reporting heavy casualties and damages on the Israeli occupation forces.
Hezbollah press office issued a statement, briefing the public and media about its operations over the past 48 hours and the casualties and damages on the Israeli enemy.
Hezbollah stayed on Saturday that it targeted a gathering of Israeli enemy forces in the southern outskirts of the city of Al-Khiyam in southern Lebanon using a suicide drone.
The movement also stated that it had attacked the Dado military base, the command center for the northern region of the Israeli army, located in the northeastern area of Safed.
These attacks intensified on Sunday, with Hezbollah declaring its fighters targeted Israeli soldiers attempting to advance from the Avivim base towards the village of Maroun al-Ras.
The statements emphasized that resistance fighters confronted the new movements of the Israeli soldiers trying to advance towards the border town of Aitaroun using machine guns and RPGs.
In another statement, Hezbollah clarified further details of these operations, revealing that they targeted a concentration of Israeli soldiers at the Al-Maqiya military center opposite the border settlement of Aitaroun using guided missiles, which successfully hit their intended target. Israeli media reported on Sunday that two soldiers of the occupying army were killed in these confrontations.
Additionally, Hezbollah targeted the deployment of enemy armored vehicles in the Al-Qab’ heights, southeast of the city of Markaba, by firing several missiles.
The northern cities of the occupied territories were also not spared from Hezbollah’s attacks Sunday, with the resistance movement issuing separate statements announcing that it had struck Israeli settlements with suicide drones.
Hezbollah expanding scope of its operations deep into Israel
Though Israel sent its troops into Lebanon with the aim of keeping the clashes within the Lebanese territories to steer clear of its settlements being targeted by Hezbollah, the model of Lebanese attacks shows that further Israeli territories are entering the circle of war and it is expected that in the coming days, large tracts of land will come under drone and rocket attacks by Hezbollah, and so new displacement wave from the northern cities is expected, at a time strong Iranian missiles keep pounding Israeli cities in response to the joint Israeli-American aggression started against Iran last week. Tehran has vowed that no place in the occupied territories will be safe to the Israelis.
The city of Galilee in northern occupied Palestine was one of the first areas to experience tremors on Saturday from five suicide drones. On the same day, Hezbollah announced that it had targeted the Israeli settlement of Sassaa with rocket attacks.
It also urged the Israeli settlers residing in Kiryat Shmona, Metula, and Nahariya in northern occupied Palestine to evacuate the area immediately. Meanwhile, Israeli-speaking sources reported that the power had been cut in the occupied settlement of Misgav Am due to Hezbollah’s attacks.
The strategic port city of Haifa, through which a significant portion of the regime’s essential goods imports are processed, was also targeted by Hezbollah on Saturday, shocking the Israelis. Hezbollah Lebanon issued a statement declaring that the “Islamic Resistance fighters had targeted the Haifa refinery with drone attacks and subsequently announced that they had targeted the Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv with missiles.”
These attacks continued with intensity on Sunday, with Hezbollah stating that in response to the criminal aggressions of the Israeli army, it targeted the Haifa naval base with unique missiles.
Additionally, Israeli media published images of Hezbollah’s operations during the shelling of Kiryat Shmona, with some sources titling the attacks: “Kiryat Shmona is burning in the fire of Hezbollah’s rockets.”
Hezbollah also announced that its fighters had targeted the Branit barracks, which serves as the command center for the 91st Brigade of the Israeli army.
Images have been released showing Hezbollah’s missile attack on Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Nafthali base of the Israeli regime. Hezbollah announced that it targeted the Stella Maris base with special missiles.
The movement also stated that its fighters targeted the Iron Dome radars in Kiryat Eliezer, Haifa, using advanced missiles.
In the following hours, the cities of Nahariya and the Galilee were also hit by retaliatory missile attacks from Hezbollah.
Tel Aviv, as the population hub of the regime, was not immune to Hezbollah’s missiles on Sunday, forcing residents to take shelter several times. Hezbollah declared that it targeted the Ramla base (the command center for the home front) located 135 kilometers from the border with Lebanon and occupied Palestine, “with a series of unique and advanced missiles.”
This attack, showcasing Hezbollah’s precise and comprehensive target bank, was complemented by another drone attack on the Galilout base (the headquarters of military intelligence Unit 8200) in the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
Israeli military surprised by relentless Hezbollah attacks
As Hezbollah expand range of its attacks to more Israeli positions, Israeli media and political observers admit to growing military capabilities of this movement. Yedioth Ahronoth reported that despite heavy pressures, Hezbollah had managed to maintain part of its elite force, Ridwan Unit, in the border area with Israeli regime.
Other media outlets expressed surprise at the Hezbollah’s capability to deal working blows that the Israeli occupation. Israel’s Channel 13, citing an Israeli official, reported that “we miscalculated Hezbollah’s situation. We did not expect them to increase their range of targeting and fire missiles to faraway and deep regions.”
Israeli media add that in the north, there is a relentless barrage of missiles, and Hezbollah is imposing a new equation for the evacuation of northern cities. Alongside the media, figures from the regime have sharply criticized government officials. For instance, David Azulay, the mayor of the Metula settlement in the north, severely criticized the inaction of the Israeli army in the face of attacks from Hezbollah fighters.
Azulay, lamenting the extensive scale of Hezbollah’s attacks and the inaction of the Israeli Air Force, stated: “Our region is on fire, and we do not hear any sounds from our airplanes. Promises and assurances are no longer sufficient; the residents of the settlement demand practical action from the Israeli Air Force against Hezbollah.”
Frustrating outlook for Netanyahu’s war on northern front
The widespread surprise, intense and overwhelming attacks by Hezbollah, and the government’s lack of planning for protecting the settlements against attacks from Iran to Lebanon have led Netanyahu’s government to resort to a threadbare excuse to mislead public opinion. They announced that the operation in Lebanon aims to retrieve the body of Ron Arad, an Israeli soldier who was captured.
Netanyahu said that Israeli forces launched what he described a “special operation” to recover the body of Israeli pilot Arad, but it went nowhere.
It is noteworthy that Ron Arad’s warplane crashed in southern Lebanon 39 years ago, since then opening a unprecedented case for Israeli officials. The case remains a point of embarrassment to the Israeli military and intelligence as they still fail to close it forever.
