Hezbollah prepares to take revenge on Israel without Iran
The Lebanese Hezbollah group appears to be taking matters into its own hands and may not wait for Iran to carry out a retaliatory attack against Israel, CNN reported. According to Israeli correspondent David DeYoung, this is for purely practical reasons. Hezbollah is closer to Israel than Iran, and therefore can carry out an attack more quickly.
‘Hezbollah’s arsenal is also Iran’s arsenal’
The expected retaliatory attacks would be in response to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr last week. Haniyeh was killed in a home in the Iranian capital, Tehran. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt. However, Iran holds Israel responsible. Shukr died after being shot by Israel in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Hezbollah is further planning a retaliatory attack on its ally Iran. The Lebanese group is said to be planning an attack in the coming days. Hezbollah is based in southern Lebanon, an area bordering northern Israel. For Hezbollah, a drone and missile attack, for example, takes minutes. That’s a different story for Iran, De Jong says.
‘Hezbollah and Iran have very different response capabilities’
In April, Iran attacked Israel with a barrage of more than 300 missiles and drones. All but one of these missiles were intercepted by the so-called Iron Dome From Israel. It then took hours for these missiles to reach Israel. De Jong expects that to be the case again. According to him, ballistic missiles are the exception to the rule. Although it would take about 20 minutes before they reached Israel. “Hezbollah and Iran have a completely different response capability because of the distance,” says De Jong.
De Jong believes that Hezbollah does not need Iran to launch a powerful attack. The assumption is that Hezbollah has 150,000 rockets. The group is a militia created and supported by Iran. Everything Hezbollah has comes from Iran. “Hezbollah’s arsenal is also Iran’s arsenal,” says De Jong. However, Hezbollah does not have ballistic missiles in its arsenal, which can travel very long distances. Iran does. According to De Jong, Hezbollah does not need these missiles at all, precisely because Hezbollah’s missiles do not need to travel very long distances.
I am waiting
According to defense expert Patrick Bolder of the Hague Institute for Strategic Studies, it now remains to be seen what Iran and Hezbollah will do. “At first it looked like they wanted to carry out the attacks in a coordinated manner, so that all the missiles and drones hit Israel and US units in Iraq at the same time.” However, Iran now appears to be taking a more cautious stance, and there is great doubt that Hezbollah is willing to wait it out.
It will remain very exciting in the coming days.
It would be impossible for Israel to effectively defend itself against a coordinated and focused attack from Iran, the Houthis from Yemen, and Hezbollah from Lebanon. In this regard, it would not be bad news for the Israelis if Hezbollah decided to respond on its own. “You just have to look to the north, which makes it a little bit easier,” says Bolder. “Such a massive barrage of guided and unguided rockets requires a very coordinated effort on the Israeli side in terms of air defense.”
Any large-scale attack by Hezbollah could be the starting point for Iran and the Houthi rebels to carry out attacks of their own. “And then they might take advantage of that.” The pot is boiling and before you know it the puppets are dancing. So the danger for Israel is not over yet. “It will continue to be very interesting in the coming days.”
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