GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 111

The Axis Of Resistance

We’ve Known This From The Start

It was Amir Tsarfati, the former IDF soldier who first floated the theory that there was a plan in place to attack Israel from all sides and Hamas jumped the gun to get all the attention and all the glory on October 7th. It did explain why Iran and Hezbollah initially said they weren’t behind it, but that brief amount of cover doesn’t obscure that they wanted to attack at some point. And we read in an article from CBN.com that such a plan comes straight from Iran:

The threat of an all-out war in the Middle East is intensifying.

Iranian-backed forces have launched a wave of attacks against American and Israeli targets in the region.

The White House accuses Tehran of provoking the crisis and prompting an American military response.

The Islamic mullahs in Tehran have dubbed it their "Axis of Resistance".

"What the Supreme leader there calls a 'ring of fire' around Israel and that's to build up these terror groups, these proxies for Iran, to do the fighting for Iran so Iran doesn't have anybody come knocking on its doorstep," said Richard Goldberg with the D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

I have maintained almost from the start that Israel will have to deal with this axis of resistance at some point. Defeating just Hamas will not bring the peace of Jerusalem. As this report goes on to say, the fights are coming from all sides right now:

Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, Iranian proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen have dramatically upped their strikes against Israel and U.S. interests in the region.

"Iran didn't arm and equip and train and finance the Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah, Shia militia groups in Iraq to use these resources for their own benefit at their own discretion. Iran did all that so it would have a capability through its proxies to act as it's acting now," said former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton.

The United States Doesn’t Want To Part Of A War

It is an election year and those in charge would prefer to not add another war to their current involvements. And yet, they have to respond if only to look like they are strong:

The U.S. has been responding with attacks on the proxy militias.

"We have taken military action against sites in Iraq and Syria that are also tied to the IRGC, which supports these militias," said White House Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer. "We have said quite clearly that we hold Iran responsible for the groups, the proxies that that it supports, and that it provides weapons to."

Iran's Revolutionary Guard forces, in just the past week, have also launched direct attacks on three of their close neighbors: Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan.

These multiple flash points are now causing concern of a much broader conflict pitting Iran and its allies against Israel and the United States.

America has a strong presence in the Middle East as it currently has some $18 billion in military assets in the region. They know as well as Israel who is pulling the strings and where they may need to focus their responses:

"It just shows just how dangerous the situation is in the wider Middle East," said Jon Gambrell with the Associated Press.

"It's all part of their strategy and ultimately they want us to be fighting these tentacles so that we get bogged down and distracted when we really need to focus on is the head of the octopus and that's Iran," Goldberg told CBN News.

And Yet The Money Still Keeps Coming

As we see in the same article, Iran continues to attack either directly or through their proxies:

Iranian-backed militias have launched more than 140 rocket and drone attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria since October 7th.

The most serious attack happened at the Al-Assad Airbase in Western Iraq this past weekend. CENTCOM reports that several U.S. personnel sustained traumatic brain injuries.

"It was a very serious attack using a capability of ballistic missiles that pose a genuine threat," said Finer.

If the intention is to curtail the assaults, that isn’t working:

Richard Goldberg, who handled the Iranian portfolio at the White House National Security Council, says such actions show Iran is clearly undeterred and has no reason to rein in its proxies, whether it's Houthi rebels targeting shipping vessels in the Red Sea or militias attacking U.S. troops in Syria.

If you want to send a message, stopping the flow of money to Iran would be a good start:

"Remember, Iran is looking at the big picture here and the Biden administration's policy is still to give money to Iran while all of this is going on. We have $10 billion flowing from a Biden sanctions-waver today that the Iranians are benefiting from," Goldberg said.

Supporting Israel As Well

It does cause us to scratch our heads to see our government continue to fund Iran and at the same time oppose them on the battlefield, but at least they are helping Israel as we read in this report from The Times Of Israel:

Amid Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and fighting against other Iran-backed proxy groups in the Middle East, Israeli defense officials are advancing a number of key defense deals with the United States, which would see the country procure new fighter jets, attack helicopters and a continued supply of munitions.

This article went on to give us the specifics of the deal:

Earlier today, Defense Ministry Director General Eyal Zamir wrapped up a working visit to Washington, DC, during which he met with senior Defense and State Department officials, as well as executives from major US defense companies to discuss the advancement of the deals.

Defense sources say Israel’s plans to procure a new squadron of 25 F35i stealth fighter jets, a squadron of 25 F-15IA fighter jets — the Israeli variant of the advanced F-15EX — and a squadron of 12 Apache helicopters were advanced during the discussions.

This deal was started last year before the October 7th attacks, however, munitions have been sent since the war started:

Also as part of the discussions, the Defense Ministry delegation worked to advance the continued supply of American munitions amid the war.

At least 250 cargo planes and more than 20 ships have delivered more than 10,000 tons of armaments and military equipment to Israel since the start of the war.

Rebuilding Is Needed

It is clear that once the fighting is over, a major rebuilding project will be needed for anyone coming back to the Gaza Strip. In an article from The Times Of Israel one source estimates that a great deal of residential buildings there are beyond help:

Some 45 percent of residential buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed since war erupted between Israel and Hamas on October 7, leaving over 1 million people homeless, according to a World Bank study based on satellite images and media accounts.

According to data collected by the international body, over 60% of residential buildings in the Gaza Strip, or 132,590 structures, have been damaged amid the war, which has seen Israel bombard the enclave from land, air and sea for over three months in a campaign to destroy the Hamas terror group and free hostages kidnapped on October 7.

The figure includes 99,601 structures reported to have been destroyed and rendered uninhabitable, out of a projected 218,656 residential buildings in the Strip before the war, according to the World Bank’s estimates.

The World Bank report doesn’t tell us why these buildings are being hit, but the IDF noted this in light of it:

The Israel Defense Forces maintains that Hamas, which rules the Strip, purposely situated military assets within residential areas and is therefore to blame for the high level of destruction in the crowded enclave.

The report wonders if anyone will help rebuild:

“In the 2014 Gaza war, thousands of buildings were destroyed, but the destruction didn’t reach the point of people living in tents. A few thousand people had to stay with relatives,” they said. “The repair of damage from the current war will cost tens of billions of dollars and will take years, in the optimistic scenario that there will be someone who will take it on.”

Those that know Israel know they will definitely help rebuild, but any semblance of any terror group must be eliminated and measures in place to prevent Hamas or the Palestinian Authority from using the area to attack Israel ever again.