GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 375

Going It Alone

Hitting Hezbollah “Mercilessly”

The recent deaths of 4 Israeli soldiers in the Hezbollah drone strike only makes Prime Minister Netanyahu’s resolve to take out the terrorists in the north even strong as we learn in an article from CBN.com:

As the Israel Defense Forces operate inside Lebanon, they are finding more and more proof that Hezbollah was in the planning and preparation stages of an October 7th-type massacre. United Nations UNIFIL forces refuse to evacuate the area, even as they complain about Israeli actions there.

The IDF went out of its way to let everyone know about these plans:

The IDF made a public display of a Hezbollah underground command center set up to launch a surprise attack on Israel by the terror group's most elite fighters, the Radwan Unit.

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari explained Hezbollah's goal. "Do a raid into Israel and do a larger scale of massacre than the 7th of October. They were planning with the motorcycles here to go to Kiryat Shmona, to Yiftah, to villages and positions inside Israel and conduct a massacre."

The command center is located under a Lebanese house a little more than a mile from the border with Israel. The bunker and tunnel system was loaded with weapons of war and facilities where Hezbollah terror squads could either launch out or hunker down, which they were apparently doing very recently.

Soldiers were at these sites only 48 -72 hours previous to the IDF discovering them:

At the bunker, Hagari stated, "They were only here a couple of days ago in those beds with those weapons here."

Addressing the lead now, the PM and top military leaders went to the place of the drone strike:

In northern Israel, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu all came to visit the site of Sunday's deadly drone attack by Hezbollah on a military base.

Netanyahu was clear about Israel’s response to the deadly attack:

Netanyahu promised the brutal assault that killed four soldiers and wounded more than 60 wouldn't deter Israel from pounding Hezbollah with force.

"I want to make it clear: we will continue to hit Hezbollah mercilessly in all parts of Lebanon – also in Beirut."

Running Out Of Rockets

We’re told in a report from WND.com that the supply of Iron Dome interceptors from the US may be running out:

Two of the principal actors in the unfolding drama in the Middle East – namely Israel and Hezbollah/Iran – are facing shortfalls of a very different, but equally significant nature, as the material toll of more than a year of fighting begins to be more keenly felt.

In particular the interceptors that Israel relies on heavily to defend against attacks is running low:

Reports emerged Tuesday about Israel's stockpiles of Iron Dome interceptor missiles, a particularly alarming development as the country's response to Iran's most recent ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1 – in whichever form it will take, and the defense establishment has telegraphed it will be significant – and the likely retaliation from the Islamic Republic of Iran.

If it fired 181 projectiles – allegedly to avenge the twin eliminations of former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and long-time Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah – it is likely a significant strike against its interests in Iran, will draw a greater response.

Some think this is the reason for the THAAD defense system being sent from the US:

It is precisely for this reason the United States has agreed to locate Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile-defense systems in Israel in advance of that expected retaliatory strike.

The report notes that while the missiles from Gaza are dried up, it is the 100 or more rockets shot daily from Hezbollah that is straining the supplies:

"Israel's munitions issue is serious," said Dana Stroul, a former senior U.S. defense official with responsibility for the Middle East, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Stroul said that if Iran and Hezbollah hit Israel together the US might not be able to help:

"If Iran responds to an Israel attack [with a massive air strike campaign], and Hezbollah joins in too, Israel air defenses will be stretched," she added, noting that U.S. stockpiles are not limitless.

She then brought up that the US is getting stretched as well:

"The U.S. can't continue supplying Ukraine and Israel at the same pace. We are reaching a tipping point."

Israel for its part is trying to keep up with the demand internally:

Boaz Levy, chief executive of Israel Aerospace Industries, a state-owned company that manufactures Arrow interceptors used to shoot down ballistic missiles, said that production lines are running triple shifts to meet demand.

"Some of our lines are working 24 hours, seven days a week. Our goal is to meet all our obligations," Levy said, according to Israel HaYom, adding the time required to produce interceptor missiles is "not a matter of days."

They systems have worked well, but they can be overwhelmed and their enemies know this:

Israel's multi-layered missile defense system has been working overtime for 12 months. The Iron Dome interceptors have successfully taken down a significant proportion of Hamas and Hezbollah's rockets, although several projectiles – including so-called suicide drones – have gotten through to devastating effect.

The results of even a slight degradation of Israel's defensive capabilities can be severe, highlighted by Iran's Oct. 1 attack, wherein Israel's largely sole attempts to repel the missiles was significantly less successful than the similar strike on April 13. Nearly three dozen missiles hit Israel's Nevatim air base, according to open-source intelligence analysts.

There are several sources that worry that the missile defense system could be vulnerable:

Some Israeli defense analysts have expressed a growing concern about what a coordinated Iranian and Hezbollah attack might mean, in terms of prioritizing how the interceptors are deployed.

US Threatens Israel Yet Again

We’re told in a report from The Jerusalem Post that the US may withhold arms shipments if Israel doesn’t improve aid to Gaza:

The United States has warned Israel that military aid could be restricted unless it takes steps to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, in one of the more serious disputes between the two arch-allies since the October 7 massacre attack.

The details of the warning was seen in a letter that was sent to Israel by the US:

The State Department, the White House, and the Pentagon confirmed that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sent a letter on the issue to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the private correspondence made “clear our concerns about the levels of humanitarian assistance that have been making it into Gaza.”

US National Security Communications adviser John Kirby said the letter “follows a marked decrease in humanitarian assistance, which has us concerned and which prompted the expression of the of those concerns in writing. We want that situation turned around now as soon as possible.”

Israel has a month to comply:

The US gave Israel 30 days to turn the situation around. A similar letter was sent to Israel in April, Miller said, explaining that the situation improved for a period of time, but that aid levels have since declined.

“It has fallen by over 50%,” Miller said.

Internally, The House of Representatives want to know why the administration is doing this:

The House Foreign Affairs Committee requested a briefing from the Biden administration regarding this letter, a committee majority spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday afternoon. As of Tuesday, the committee had not seen a copy of the letter.

I think politics are afoot here:

Miller and Kirby spoke to many media outlets and picked up on a Channel 12 report on the dispute. Washington raised the issue at a time when it was at odds with Jerusalem over Lebanon and in conversation with it about the pending Israeli retaliatory strike on Iran.

The US doesn’t want Israel to continue to pound Hezbollah and doesn’t want them to hit Iran as hard as Netanyahu wants to. They also seem to ignore that Hamas itself is taking that aid and surviving off it. The PM was hoping to choke Hamas out by slowing the aid down. Also, this is yet another way the US is keeping Israel from winning a war they need to win if they hope to survive as a nation and as a people. It is the kind of meddling that God will judge in my opinion and He may need to start removing these decision makers from power. I know that sounds harsh, but this pressure is literally getting in the way of the elimination of the terrorist threats that Israel has faced for the better part of 76 years and running. And it is why I see Israel having to go this on its own just as prophesied in the Bible. The US is showing signs that they don’t want Hamas destroyed and they want Hezbollah to remain in power. God feels differently. And so should we.