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Israel’s Struggle for Survival in the North Is Existential
People rush to a soccer field hit by a Hezbollah rocket in the majority-Druze northern Israeli town Majdal Shams Photo: Via 924, from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law
Recent weeks have seen a spate of vigorous Israeli defense measures against the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah, which have drawn interest from around the world.
Just last week, the IDF bombed Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut, killing Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah.
Nasrallah’s bloody reign over the past 40 years led to the death of not only Israelis, but also Americans, Syrians, and Lebanese people.
While many people know that Hezbollah is a military proxy of Iran, and that it has targeted Jews around the world, the Israeli actions over the past few weeks caught many by surprise.
So what are the roots of this conflict, and why is it coming to the fore now?
On October 8, 2023, Hezbollah launched rocket and mortar attacks on Israel, in what it called “solidarity” with the Gaza-based Hamas. On the previous day, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped another 240, in the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
Israel, it must be repeated, is a small country about the size of New Jersey.
From the Mediterranean near Tel Aviv to Judea and Samaria, Israel’s width is about 9 miles — walkable in two hours at a brisk pace.
From a military perspective, Israel has no strategic depth. This means that Israel cannot withdraw behind its frontiers and absorb an enemy blow before gathering its strength and responding, as a large nation might.
What is sometimes forgotten overseas, but never in Israel, is that Hezbollah’s continuing attacks on Israel’s North affected the country’s lived reality over time — perhaps even more than Hamas’ attack in the South.
In the past year, Hezbollah has launched more than 8,000 rockets at Israeli cities and military targets. More than 21,500 acres in the Galilee and Golan Heights, much of them forest preserves, have been burnt by fires sparked by Hezbollah rockets.
As a result of the incessant bombardment, more than 60,000 Israelis are internally displaced from Israel’s North, down from 100,000 earlier this year.
Agriculture is devastated in this region, which accounts for about a third of Israel’s agricultural lands, and about 73% of its domestic egg production. Kiryat Shmona, with a prewar population of over 20,000 and a major incubator for food tech startups, is down to 20% of its population from last year, with those remaining hunkered down against the incoming Hezbollah missiles.
Worst of all, Hezbollah is also targeting and killing civilians on the Israeli side of the border, including 12 children playing soccer in the Golani village of Majdal Shams.
Unfortunately, every Israeli also knows that this situation could worsen. In 2006, Israelis spent a wartime summer in bomb shelters, reminding many of the London Blitz. Hezbollah is still believed to possess an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles, and is specifically training its “Radwan Forces” for a ground invasion of northern Israel, intended to be similar to October 7.
Israel has responded with a series of highly targeted strikes to downgrade Hezbollah’s ability to commit atrocities against Israeli civilians, short of a full-scale war.
On July 30, Israel eliminated Fuad Shukr, who played a central role in Hezbollah’s 1983 bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 US servicemen and women. For his long standing crimes against Americans and others, the US State Department was offering a reward of up to $5 million for tips on Shukr’s whereabouts, which the US government can now use for something else.
On September 20, 2024, Israel conducted an airstrike in Beirut, eliminating senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil, along with 15 other top commanders. Aqil had been orchestrating immediate plans for a large-scale Hezbollah invasion of northern Israel, and had ties to the 1983 US embassy bombing in Beirut.
Most dramatically of all, in a move right out of a spy thriller, on September 17 and 18, a series of explosions rocked Hezbollah’s communications network. This surgical strike exclusively impacted devices belonging to members of the terror network.
Thousands of pagers (on the 17th) and walkie-talkies (on the 18th) equipped with explosives detonated, killing at least 37 Hezbollah operatives and wounding thousands more. Though Israel didn’t claim responsibility, Hezbollah vowed retaliation.
Another crucial element here is the weak Lebanese state.
After Hezbollah assassinated Lebanon’s Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005, the Syrian army was forced by popular outrage to withdraw from its occupation of Lebanon.
However, Hezbollah refused to budge, and started a war with Israel the following year. In 2011, Hezbollah saved Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad from being overthrown by his people, helping him brutally slaughter over 500,000 Syrian civilians.
Israel is a small country, Lebanon is a weak one, and Iran — Hezbollah’s master — believes that this is a moment of Western weakness and navel-gazing, the perfect chance to commit atrocities that would never be possible in ordinary times.
As Hamas did on October 7, Hezbollah has indicated that it would commit genocidal acts against Israeli civilians, given the chance.
Israel is defending itself to ensure that this never happens — as any other country in the world would do, and as every other country in the world should support.
Hen Mazzig is an Israeli writer, speaker, and Senior Fellow at the Tel Aviv Institute. He’s appeared as an expert on Israel, antisemitism, and social media in the BBC, NBC News, LA Times, Newsweek, and more. Follow him on: @henmazzig
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Six Killed in Jaffa Terror Shooting
Illustrative: Israeli troops guard, at the scene of a shooting, near Hebron, in the West Bank, August 21, 2023. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
JNS.org — Six people were killed in a terrorist shooting attack on Jerusalem Boulevard in Tel Aviv-Jaffa on Tuesday night, according to the Israel Police and Magen David Adom emergency response service.
Earlier, Hebrew media reported that eight victims died in the attack.
Three victims are in serious condition and additional people sustained wounds to “varying degrees,” Israel’s Magen David Adom medical emergency response group said in a statement on the incident.
United Hatzalah first responder Rom Ella said, “We were informed that there were injured people near the train station on Jerusalem Boulevard. Passersby told us that there were also injured people on nearby streets, and additional medics were there and continued to other scenes. Some of the injured people we treated were unconscious.”
Three Arab terrorists were reportedly killed at the scene.
The victims were evacuated to Wolfson Medical Center in the nearby city of Holon and Sourasky Tel Aviv Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital).
A police officer on the scene said the terrorist attack involved at least two gunmen who exited a train car and opened fire at people waiting at one of the light-rail stations on Jaffa’s Jerusalem Boulevard.
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Only Casualty of Mass Iranian Missile Attack is Palestinian Man in Jericho: Reports
A man was killed by missile shrapnel in the West Bank village of Nu’eima, near Jericho, amid the Iranian attack on Israel, according to Palestinian and Israeli media.
A Palestinian man in the West Bank village of Nu’eima, near Jericho was killed by missile shrapnel, possibly from an Arrow Missile or Iron Dome interceptor, during a massive Iranian missile attack against Israel, according to Israeli media outlet GLZ.
The man, whose name or age has not been released by Israeli or Palestinian authorities, is currently the only reported casualty of the Iranian attack against Israel.
Israeli rescue services said that only two people were lightly wounded by shrapnel in Tel Aviv amid the Iranian missile attack, while several others were treated for minor injuries after falling over while running or for acute anxiety.
Iran fired an unprecedented salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, forcing the Jewish state’s entire civilian population to take cover in bomb shelters.
“A short time ago missiles were launched from Iran into the territory of the State of Israel,” a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. “You are asked to be vigilant and act exactly according to the instructions of the Home Front Command. The IDF is doing and will do everything necessary to protect the citizens of the State of Israel.”
The IDF posted on X/Twitter that “all Israeli civilians” were sheltering from the Iranian attack.
Alarms sounded across Israel and explosions could be heard in Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley. Reuters journalists reported seeing missiles being intercepted in the airspace of neighboring Jordan.
According to initial Israeli Hebrew-language media reports, as many as 100 missiles had been launched.
“The air-defense system is fully operational, detecting and intercepting threats wherever necessary, even at this moment,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesman. “However, the defense is not hermetic.”
Iran had initially vowed to retaliate for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July. The Israeli government has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the assassination, although the Iranian regime blamed Jerusalem.
It was widely expected that Iran would launch a direct attack on Israel; however, no such attack ever came.
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Iran Launches Barrage of Ballistic Missiles at Israel
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, Oct. 1, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, forcing the Jewish state’s entire civilian population to take cover in bomb shelters.
“A short time ago missiles were launched from Iran into the territory of the State of Israel,” a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. “You are asked to be vigilant and act exactly according to the instructions of the Home Front Command. The IDF is doing and will do everything necessary to protect the citizens of the State of Israel.”
The IDF posted on X/Twitter that “all Israeli civilians” were sheltering from the Iranian attack.
Alarms sounded across Israel and explosions could be heard in Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley. Reuters journalists reported seeing missiles being intercepted in the airspace of neighboring Jordan.
According to Israeli army radio, nearly 200 missiles had been launched into Israel from Iran.
“The air-defense system is fully operational, detecting and intercepting threats wherever necessary, even at this moment,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesman. “However, the defense is not hermetic.”
Israel‘s military later said Israelis were free to leave their shelters.
“Following the situational assessment, it was decided that it is now permitted to leave protected spaces in all areas across the country,” the military said.
According to Hagari, the IDF was not immediately aware of any injuries resulting from the Iranian missile attack.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an Iranian military force and internationally designated terrorist organization with significant political and economic influence, said Iran had launched “tens of missiles” at Israel and that if Israel retaliated, Tehran’s response would be “more crushing and ruinous.”
Iran had initially vowed to retaliate for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July. The Israeli government has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the assassination, although the Iranian regime blamed Jerusalem.
It was widely expected that Iran would launch a direct attack on Israel; however, no such attack ever came.
Then Iran said it would retaliate following Israeli airstrikes over the last two weeks that killed the top leaders of its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon, including longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. IRGC deputy commander Abbas Nilforoushan was also killed in the same strike as Nasrallah.
Iran backs both Hamas and Hezbollah, providing the Islamist terrorist groups with weapons, funding, and training.
“After a period of restraint, Iran has targeted the heart of the occupied territories with tens of missiles following the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh … the intensification of the Zionist regime’s attacks on Lebanon and Gaza, the martyrdom of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and [of] Guards Commander Abbas Nilforoushan,” the IRGC reportedly said.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that the missile launches were ordered by Iran’s so-called “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and that Tehran is “fully prepared” for an Israeli response. According to Reuters, Khamenei has remained in a secure location since the Israeli airstrikes on Beirut that killed Nasrallah last week.
Tuesday’s missile barrage came after Israel said its troops launched limited ground raids into neighboring Lebanon, where Iran’s chief proxy force Hezbollah wields significant influence and has been firing drones, missiles, and rockets at northern Israeli communities almost daily for the past year.
About 80,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate and flee their homes amid the relentless attacks. Israeli leaders have said they are committed to making it safe for the displaced citizens to return to their homes, even if that means using military force to push Hezbollah forces further away from the Israel-Lebanon border.
US officials had reportedly said earlier on Tuesday that they had indications Iran was preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel and that Washington was actively supporting preparations to defend the Jewish state, its closest Middle Eastern ally.
US President Joe Biden said the United States was prepared to help Israel defend itself from Iranian aggression.
“We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region,” Biden posted on X/Twitter about a meeting held with Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House national security team earlier in the day.
In April, Iran launched what was then an unprecedented direct attack on Israeli soil. In that attack, Iran fired some 300 missiles and drones at Israel, nearly all of which were downed by the Jewish state and its allies. The failed barrage was in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria’s capital of Damascus that killed seven IRGC members, including two senior commanders. One of the commanders allegedly helped plan the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. Israel neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the incident.
Iran’s latest attack came one day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned nowhere in the Middle East was beyond its reach to strike.
This story is developing and will be updated.
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