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Israel Is Burning: The War in the North Could Make Gaza Look Small in Comparison

Flames seen at the side of a road, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, close to the Israel border with Lebanon, in northern Israel, June 4, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ayal Margolin

Large swaths of northern Israel, already rendered uninhabitable by months of Hamas rocket fire, are now ablaze. Nearly 100,000 Israelis who were forced from their homes in October have been living as “displaced persons” for almost eight months. Hezbollah has also succeeded in carrying out a number of ground incursions into Israeli territory in “October 7 style,” though fortunately all civilian communities have been evacuated.

After three quarters of a year, the Israeli people are asking: when will we go back home to the north?

This week may finally provide our answer: amidst rumors of a June IDF ground operation into Lebanon, Israel has just called up 350,000 reservists: nearly the entire reserve corps. Yet this war will be unlike anything we’re used to.

In October, Hamas had an estimated arsenal of 30,000 rockets. Hezbollah, by contrast, is estimated to have nearly a quarter million, and can fire more rockets in a single day than Hamas can in an entire month — enough to overwhelm the Iron Dome missile defense shield.

Moreover, an estimated 10% of Hezbollah’s arsenal consists of guided, precision high yield missiles, smart-bombs, and drones. Combined with the ability to overwhelm Iron Dome, these precision weapons have a terrifying capacity to destroy specific targets.

(Source: Alma Research and Education Center)

So what will Hezbollah strike, given the opportunity and capacity? Israelis have some thoughts on this: for months Israelis have been quietly stockpiling food, bottled water, AM/FM radios, flashlights, and extra batteries. This is because Israelis believe that Hezbollah will attempt to destroy electric plants, water systems, the roads that transport food, as well as communications and Internet connections (making old style radios potentially the only way to access information). Israelis are accustomed to hearing a siren and going to the bomb shelter for 10 minutes, However, in a war with Hezbollah, Israelis could be stuck in shelters for hours or even days at a time.

But there is at least some encouraging news: Israel has been preparing for this scenario for the past eight months. There are clues to indicate that Israel may have been quietly building back-up systems and other protections for much of the civilian infrastructure, but it is nonetheless a far more dangerous scenario than a face-off against Hamas.

Israel faces another dilemma in this upcoming Lebanon war: Lebanese casualties.

Israel’s operation in Gaza has produced the lowest civilian to combatant casualty ratio in human history, nine times lower than the UN published global average, and far lower than numbers achieved by the United States and coalition allies in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Part of the reason Israel was able to act with such incredible restraint is the Iron Dome: if an active Hamas rocket launcher is surrounded by civilians, Israel can afford to issue warnings and wait before destroying it, knowing that Israeli civilians will have a measure of protection in the meantime.

Not so in Lebanon: with the Iron Dome potentially overwhelmed and with Hezbollah’s high yield precision munitions pointed at Israeli civilian targets, the IDF will have no choice but to destroy the active rocket launchers quickly. If such rocket launchers are located in densely populated areas, such as downtown Beirut, that could mean very high levels of civilian casualties.

Self-defense under these circumstances is absolutely permitted by international law, morality, and basic common sense, whereas Hezbollah’s practice of hiding weaponry in civilian areas is not.

Lebanese casualties would be tragic and worthy of empathy, yet even so, the blame should fall squarely on Hezbollah (and not Israel) for turning an entire nation into one massive human shield. Even Israel’s historical restraint in Gaza has not been adequate to stem the tide of accusations of genocide, war crimes, and international legal actions. With Lebanese casualty counts potentially tens to hundreds of times greater, one can only imagine the international storm that will ensue. And that’s not even counting the dangers that await the Israeli homeland.

A war in the north could have unprecedented consequences for the Jewish State.

Daniel Pomerantz is the CEO of RealityCheck, an organization dedicated to deepening public conversation through robust research studies and public speaking.

The post Israel Is Burning: The War in the North Could Make Gaza Look Small in Comparison first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Riding Anti-Trump Wave, Australia’s Albanese Secures 2nd term

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy

i24 NewsAustralia’s Anthony Albanese claimed a second term as prime minister on Saturday, in a comeback against once-resurgent conservatives that commentators said was powered by voters’ concerns about the impact of US President Donald Trump.

Peter Dutton, leader of the conservative Liberal party, conceded defeat and the loss of his own seat, echoing the fate of Canada’s conservatives and their leader Pierre Poilievre, whose election losses last week were also widely attributed to a Trump backlash.

Supporters at Labor’s election party in Sydney cheered and hugged each other as Albanese claimed victory and said his party would form a majority government.

“Our government will choose the Australian way, because we are proud of who we are and all that we have built together in this country,” Albanese told supporters.

The Australian Electoral Commission website projected Labor would win 81 of 150 seats in the House of Representatives, increasing its majority in parliament, with 68% of the vote counted.

The post Riding Anti-Trump Wave, Australia’s Albanese Secures 2nd term first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israeli PM Netanyahu Postpones Upcoming Visit to Azerbaijan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Feb. 16, 2025. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed next week’s visit to Azerbaijan, his office announced on Saturday, in part due to recent developments in Gaza and Syria.

The prime minister’s office also cited “the intense diplomatic and security schedule” and said that the visit would be rescheduled, without announcing a new date.

Netanyahu was to visit Azerbaijan from May 7-11 and was expected to meet with President Ilham Aliyev. Israel and Azerbaijan maintain close security and energy ties.

The post Israeli PM Netanyahu Postpones Upcoming Visit to Azerbaijan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel Says It Intercepted Missile Fired from Yemen; Houthis Claim Responsibility

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Israel’s military said on Saturday it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen and Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the attack, the third of its kind by the Iran-aligned group in 24 hours.

The Israeli military said sirens were activated in a number of areas in Israel after the missile was launched. No casualties or serious damage have been reported from the missile salvos.

The claim of responsibility, announced by the Houthis’ military spokesperson, came amid an intensification of US airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

In March, US President Donald Trump ordered large-scale strikes against the Houthis to reduce their capabilities and deter them from targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

The deadly strikes on the group have been the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office in January.

The Houthis say their attacks on Israel and Red Sea shipping are in solidarity with the Palestinians in the war between Hamas terrorists and Israel in Gaza.

The group pledged to expand its range of targets in Israel in retaliation for a renewed Israeli offensive in Gaza launched in mid-March, breaking a two-month-old ceasefire after the mediated talks on terms for extending it broke down.

The post Israel Says It Intercepted Missile Fired from Yemen; Houthis Claim Responsibility first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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