Alwaght- While Gaza war and the developments related to it are taking place on the ground, a part of it is taking place in the form of a psychological warfare that involves the warring sides. Large-scale public protests in various world cities from Europe to the US in support of Gaza and condemnation of the Israeli genocide demonstrated that just contrary to Israeli initial thought, they have sustained a heavy defeat in the psychological warfare and the world public opinion are mobilized against them. Opposition to war even swept Tel Aviv and many Israelis call for end to the military campaign and negotiation with Hamas resistance movement. On the other hand, on the northern front, things are going against the Israeli wishes and many Israelis are extremely worried about eruption of a tough war with Hezbollah after Gaza war.
Israeli worry about full-scale war in southern Lebanon
In recent days, Lebanon’s Hezbollah has ratcheted up its drone and missile attacks on the northern front of Israel, and recently, the Wall Street Journal quoted Israeli officials as saying that the Israeli army has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers along the border with Lebanon. Earlier, the Hebrew-language media, acknowledging the power of Lebanon’s Hezbollah in the northern front, had reported that Hezbollah has “returned Israel’s intelligence system in the north to the Stone Age” by its missile strikes. Kobi Mirum, a reporter for Israeli Channel 12, announced that Hezbollah has made many achievements in the eyes of public opinion as its attacks displaced 70,000 settlers from their homes on the northern border and hundreds of thousands of others are still under the threat of Hezbollah’s rocket attacks.
The fear and warning of the confrontation with Hezbollah along with the evacuation of the northern settlements of the occupied areas is the most obvious sign that proves the success of Hezbollah in the psychological warfare against the Israelis. In fact, with its success in the psychological warfare, Hezbollah has successfully achieved the desired deterrence against the Israeli occupation, to the extent that many Hebrew-language experts in Tel Aviv consider the Israeli army’s confrontation with Hezbollah as detrimental to Tel Aviv and warn about a full-scale war in southern Lebanon.
Two weeks ago, ex-Israeli Finance Minister Meir Sheetrit said that if a war begins with Lebanon, Hezbollah’s missiles will not only reach Qiryat Shemona, but also any point in Israeli depth including Tel Aviv and Dimona. This former official in an interview with Kan news network talked about complications of the conditions on the borders with Lebanon and admitted to the importance of the missile arsenal of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, adding: “Hezbollah has long-range and pinpoint-accuracy missiles that work with the GPS system, and this issue makes them more dangerous.”
Earlier, Israeli research center Alma said that Hezbollah advances and its armament with precision strike systems is certain, systemic, and fast. Also, Haaretz newspaper wrote that the Hezbollah is setting a precedent in the world by snipping at the Israeli sites using anti-tank missiles.
A meaningful message to the Israeli spy apparatus
On Friday, Hezbollah published targeting spying domes in Israeli Jal Al-Alam military base. In the footage of the strike, Hezbollah explains that this site was hit by special guided missiles. Reports suggest that the missile used by the Lebanese resistance movement is capable of hitting invisible targets and can receive coordinates that cannot be processed by the drones.
Hezbollah said it struck a spying site in Zarit military base in northern occupied territories. Hitting this base shows that in case of a full-scale war, even the Israeli spying apparatus will not be immune to Hezbollah’s strikes.
New details of Hezbollah’s guided missile
Data about the guided missile of Hezbollah used against Israeli spying sites show that it has an empty body with a warhead carrying payload, something ensuring its high penetration capabilities. The warhead of this missile can be modified like the Cornet missiles. Meanwhile, this missile can be used in ground maneuvers and during clashes. According to Al-Mayadeen news network report, this missile can be launched from a fixed platform, or from a mobile launcher, as well as from a special drone. It can be guided using a TV system or laser.
Al-Mayadeen’s information about the process of preparation, launch, and penetration showed that a camera was part of the missile and actually it filmed itself while flying towards the target. The news network added that this guided missile identified and targeted points in Liman Bay and Shalomi.
Military experts, including those from Israel, voiced their concern about the published video. They believe that this missile belongs to the family of Iranian Diamond missiles or similar missiles developed by the Islamic resistance to counter the Spike missiles of the Israeli regime. According to what is mentioned in a number of websites related to military affairs, the decision to build these missiles was made in the past decade, especially since several generations of them have been designed and built in several types and sizes. Having a warhead carrying 1.5 to 15 kilogram explosive substance, a communication and guidance devices, including laser, radio - TV both separate or connected to the launch platform and monitoring devices (electro-optical and thermal systems) and a range of 5 to 15 kilometers are features of this missile. Abbas Fanish, a Lebanese analyst of Al-Mayadeen, said that the approach of Hezbollah is shifting from quantitatively effective operations to qualitatively effective operations on the battlefield.
Admitting to Sayed Hassan Nasrallah’s success
Ron Schleifer, a senior lecturer in the School of Communications at Ariel University and specializing in psychological warfare, commented on the skills of Hezbollah and its chief Sayed Hassan Nasrallah in psychological warfare, telling Haaretz that “thanks to Nasrallah, we understood that psychological warfare matters and in war it is not only the shells and airstrikes that are decisive. The secretary-general of Hezbollah is focused on [psychological]warfare on Israel. Here is the fundamental thought in psychological warfare: If you cannot impact the gun of your enemy, impact the finger that pulls the trigger. Nasrallah is a master of that... The biggest disaster is that we think that the Arab world is backward, but we are totally wrong. The Arab world is full of media outlets and psychological warfare is another aspect the war needs.”