GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 324

It’s On

The Stakes Are Raised

As predicted Israel and Hezbollah are fighting at a high level now with both sides claiming victory from the attacks launched from both today as we learn from an article from CBN.com:

Israel's military began a substantial strike against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon early Sunday morning. The attack focused on terror targets and launch sites. In response, Hezbollah says it fired 320 rockets into Israel targeting military barracks after the Israeli strikes.

It matters who you talk to when it comes to who got the better of whom, Israel says they prevailed:

A Western intelligence source told The New York Times the targets Israel destroyed in Lebanon were launch sites for a planned missile attack on Tel Aviv.

Ynet News reports the military hit 40 sites approved on Saturday night by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The feared unleashing of thousands of rockets by Hezbollah didn’t occur though:

The IDF claims to have hit thousands of launchers and said that at one point Israel had 100 planes in the air at the same time. Reports indicate Hezbollah planned an assault that included 6,000 rockets and drones.

Israeli citizens were warned to go to safe areas:

In northern Israel, the Home Front Command issued emergency alerts directing residents to stay only in protected areas. These locations included workplaces, children's schools, and camps. Beaches were closed from south of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean to the Lebanese border. Beaches and parking lots were also shut down on the Sea of Galilee.

The Israel Defense Minister made sure to keep the US in the loop:

Gallant called his U.S. counterpart, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and reported, “We have conducted precise strikes in Lebanon in order to thwart an imminent threat against the citizens of Israel. We are closely following developments in Beirut, and we are determined to use all the means at our disposal in order to defend our citizens."

The terrorists to the north also declared victory:

Hezbollah claimed its Sunday morning volley in the north completed the "first stage" of reprisals for last month's killing in Beirut of Fouad Shukr, the terror group's second-in-command.

"By God's grace, the first stage has been fully completed with complete success," Hezbollah announced. "This stage involved targeting Israeli barracks and sites to facilitate the passage of attack drones towards their intended destination deep within (Israel)."

Meanwhile Israel’s president sought international support:

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz briefed dozens of diplomatic leaders in other nations Sunday, asking them to support Israel's fight against Hezbollah and the "axis of evil."

As far as I can tell this conflict is far from over and we’re still waiting to see what Iran will do. As we see, Hezbollah didn’t accomplish exactly what they wanted to so far.

A Game Of Chicken

Ironically in my mind playing a game of chicken implies two cars speeding up as they drive right at each other to see who will swerve out of the way first. The person who gets out of the way is a chicken. In this case the international Arab community is mocking Hezbollah for doing nothing more than killing chickens in the latest attacks as we read in an article from The Jerusalem Post:

Following a tense morning where the IDF reportedly intercepted a wide missile attack from Hezbollah planned for the significant Shi’i commemoration day of Arba’iniyat Al-Hussain, the Iranian proxy claimed in a formal statement that all rockets and drones that were planned to take part in the attack were indeed operated and pledged to have ended its operations for the day.

Some Hezbollah aficionados lauded the attack, sharing images of damaged houses and small fires that erupted as a result of the attack, while others claimed in a conspiratorial tone that this was an “Implicit coordinated response between the two parties,” adding: “initial response to Israel a chicken coop was destroyed, killing a number of chickens and chicks and breaking thousands of eggs. (Darn) you scoundrels, you and the Iranian Houthis, you laugh at the Arab peoples, you and the Zionists are two sides of the same coin, implementing one project and one goal.”

As we are seeing, the social media posts are dripping with sarcasm:

However, the relatively low-key impact and damage of the attack sparked a wave of online comments from users around the Arab world mocking Hezbollah for its actions, and focusing especially on reports of damaged chicken pens in the Galilee region.

One Kuwaiti user named Fahed uploaded a picture of a dead chicken, adding cynically: “Allahu Akbar! Hassan Nasrallah’s response! Hezbollah’s response! The number of chicken injuries rose to 27 chickens, 5 of them are critically injured, with first-degree burns to the wings and beak, after the chicken pen was targeted in response to the assassination of Fouad Shukr. He says ‘Our missiles are accurate!’”

A post from a Syrian was even more biting in his response:

A parody account named after Syrian tyrant Bashar Al-Assad wrote “A video showing the result of Hezbollah’s response to Israel, where dozens of Israeli chickens were killed and wounded. Is it reasonable that my ally Hezbollah would respond to the assassination of the party’s top military commander by killing chickens? I will now call my friend Hassan Nasrallah to explain to him that Israel is a murderer and assassinated his leaders, not a midwife who delivered them so that he could slaughter chickens on this occasion.”

Another Syrian account was indignant in his sarcasm:

A Syrian user named Khaled added: “The chicken massacre was not a coincidence, but a strategic plan! The goal? To prevent the opponents and enemies of the ‘resistance’ from gloating after every bombing and saying ‘They didn’t even hurt a chicken.’ Hezbollah finished off the chickens and chicks with premeditation and deliberation, in order to deprive us of the pleasure of joking and mocking its response and missiles!”

And this Jordanian was a real jokester:

A Jordanian commenter added, “Iranian Hezbollah takes revenge for Fouad Shukr and Haniyeh by striking an Israeli chicken coop, killing a number of chickens?!!”

This Saudi commentator and another user lets us know the full details of the attack:

Another Saudi user named Sultan commented ironically: “Hezbollah’s retaliation against Israel following the assassination of Fu’ad Shuker struck a chicken pen where firefighting teams began to extinguish the fire. The results of the bombing: the death of a rooster, two hens, and a young chick.

One user named Omar compared the high-ranking leader assassinated by Israel and Hezbollah’s response, showing the burning chicken pen, while another user named Adel wrote, “Hezbollah excels in its precision in killing chickens.”

The Arab influencers are less than impressed to say the least. I think we can all agree that the IDF kept the damage low in this round of attacks. Sarcasm aside, let’s hear from the more serious accounts.

It’s Not Over

That seems to be consensus from both Hezbollah and Israel as we hear from the Israeli side in an article from the Jerusalem News Syndicate:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the IDF’s coordinated preemptive strikes against Hezbollah terror assets on Sunday was not the final blow.

“What happened today is not the end of the story. Early this morning, Hezbollah tried to attack the State of Israel with rockets and drones. We directed the IDF to carry out an intense preemptive attack to remove the threat,” Netanyahu said at the start of the Cabinet meeting, which this week was held at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

The PM added these details:

“The IDF destroyed thousands of short-range rockets, all of which were designed to attack our citizens and our forces in the Galilee. Also, the IDF intercepted all of the drones that Hezbollah launched at a strategic target in the center of the country,” continued the premier.

“We are striking Hezbollah with surprising crushing blows. Three weeks ago, we eliminated its chief of staff [Fuad Shukr], and today we thwarted its attack plan.

Netanyahu also added that the balance of power in the north will change:

“[Hezbollah terrorist chief Hassan] Nasrallah in Beirut and [Iranian Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei in Tehran need to know that this is an additional step in changing the situation in the north and returning our residents securely to their homes,” Netanyahu said.

Here are a few more details on the attack:

Early on Sunday morning, approximately 100 Israeli Air Force fighter jets, directed by IDF intelligence, destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers in Southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah subsequently fired more than 200 projectiles into Israel.

Hezbollah stated that their attack was also the first stage of its response but also seemed to signal in other reports that it may be done for now:

The Iranian proxy released a statement according to which the launches were “stage one” of its retaliation for Israel’s targeted killing of Shukr on July 31.

Oh and in a shocking development, Hamas is rejecting the latest hostage proposal. I just thought you should know that. Color me falsely surprised.