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Thursday, September 19, 2024

09/19 Links Pt1: Operation Grim Beeper: Melanie Phillips: Hoist with their own devices; Hezbollah hides death toll from exploding devices; Hamas is an idea

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: Hoist with their own devices
Today’s developments suggest, however, that Israel hadn’t yet finished its task of disabling the enemy before any such all-out attack. There may therefore be more such disabling attacks to come as a precursor to the long-promised war to finish the job.

And then, of course, there’s Iran. The regime in Tehran must now be in a state of panic. Not only is Hezbollah, the proxy army whose missile batteries form the principal threat to Israel from the Iranian regime, now on its knees for the moment as the result of Israeli out-of-the-box thinking. The Iranian regime will be wondering that, if Israel can pull off this kind of tactic against Hezbollah, what might it be about to do to themselves and their spear-carriers in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps?

Of course, we don’t yet know what Israel’s strategy actually is. We know that the Biden administration is putting Israel under enormous pressure not to wage all-out war on Hezbollah. Maybe Israel is buckling to that pressure. There have also been reports that the pager attack was indeed intended as a pre-emptive strike for an all-out assault on Hezbollah, but Israel was forced to make it a stand-alone event because it had become compromised by some Hezbollah operatives becoming suspicious of their pagers.

Despite all that, maybe we’ll see that all-out attack very soon. Israel has long feared such a war, though, because of the certainty of thousands of Israeli victims from enormous barrages of Hezbollah rockets and other weaponry that might overwhelm Israel’s defences. We don’t know whether the events of the past 36 hours have reduced that threat. But there may be no better opportunity than this to take that gamble.

What has long been crystal clear, however, is that Hezbollah has to be defeated once and for all. And so does Iran. The October 7 pogrom put steel into the Israeli public’s backbone. Never again must Israel face the threat of another October 7 or worse. The endless war of attrition by Hezbollah must be stopped. And the head of the snake in Tehran must itself be lopped off. The Israeli public will stand for nothing less.

What has also been clear is that the Biden administration has been doing everything it can to stop Israel from defeating its mortal enemies.

Israel has long observed that — contrary to the west’s moral cretins who so falsely claim that Israel’s responses to Hamas are themselves war crimes — it has used only a fraction of its firepower against Hamas and Hezbollah and that it has far more up its sleeve than anyone can imagine. In the past 36 hours, we’ve seen some evidence of the dramatic surprises that Israel can indeed spring.

But this has also shown us that, given what it does indeed have up its sleeve, Israel could have finished off Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran too long ago if it hadn’t been prevented from doing so by America — which has been intent instead on appeasing and empowering Iran, creating a state of Palestine in Gaza which would become yet another Iranian terror proxy, and cynically weaponising the grievous plight of the hostages to force upon Israel a ceasefire which would led to the survival of Hamas.
Jonathan Tobin: Why is Hamas so confident that it’s winning?
Claiming U.S. ‘recognition’
But above all, Hamas views American pressure on Israel as its ace in the hole. As Mashaal pointed out, the way that the hostage negotiations have been handled by Washington has amounted to American “recognition” of Hamas as a diplomatic partner as opposed to a despised and outlawed terrorist organization. He’s right about that.

While it’s not clear just how closely they are observing the presidential election or counting on one outcome over another, they obviously prefer Harris’s stand in favor of an “immediate ceasefire” to former President Donald Trump’s comments, which amount to a green light to Israel to “finish the job” of eliminating the terrorists.

Hamas’s military position inside Gaza is not completely eliminated, but it is a shadow of its pre-October self. And there are even reports now starting to circulate about Gazans drawing some obvious conclusions about the high cost of letting Hamas lead them into disaster after disaster. Even as Israel’s focus is increasingly turning towards its northern border and the imperative to stop the Hezbollah fire that has depopulated a large area in the direct line of terrorist fire, the need to continue the work of demolishing tunnels and rooting out remaining Hamas elements is not over. It may take years—something that discourages Israelis, and that infuriates Biden and Harris. But the notion that there is any realistic alternative to continue fighting that would ensure Israeli security—whether in the form of a ceasefire/surrender or bringing international forces into Gaza to stop Hamas—is a pipe dream.

The reality of Palestinian politics
As the Times article makes clear, Hamas will never budge from its demands that Israel hand back Gaza to them. And as long as they are useful to their cause, they will hold onto many of the hostages, despite the belief among some Israelis that it is Netanyahu’s stubbornness or political ambition that is the obstacle to their freedom. Moreover, Hamas leaders are right to believe, despite the understandable anger in Gaza, that the basic equation of Palestinian politics remains unchanged. Over the last century, Palestinian groups and leaders have always gained credibility primarily by shedding Jewish blood. Hamas thinks that it will eventually reap a great benefit from the atrocities of Oct. 7 in the form of broad support that will enable it to topple and replace Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah Party in Judea and Samaria as well as Gaza. All they have to do to cash in on that is to survive the war, and they think they’ve found the formula to enable them to do just that.

If left to carry out its tasks without foreign interference, the IDF will eventually eliminate Hamas, though that task will not be accomplished easily or quickly. It can certainly prevent it from returning to power in Gaza, thus ensuring that its reign of terror over Israel as well as Palestinians is over. Still, Mashaal and the rest of the terrorist group are counting on feckless American politicians, ideologically motivated leftist demonstrators and political activists, a media that is always prepared to demonize Israeli efforts at self-defense, as well as war-weariness and anguish about the hostages inside Israel to guarantee their survival. We may hope that they are wrong about that, but it’s easy to understand why the terrorist leader is confident that he can outlast the Israelis … with American help.
Clifford May: Hamas is an idea
Their goal is to kill the Zionist idea. Which is what exactly?

Prior to 1948, Zionism was the belief that Jews had the right and should have the opportunity to exercise self-determination in part of their ancient homeland.

There were reasonable arguments against this idea—not least that it would prove too arduous. For one thing, most of what was to become Israel was either desert or malarial swamp.

Following the re-establishment of the Jewish state—and a failed war launched immediately thereafter by the Arab countries surrounding Israel—Zionism took on a different meaning.

If you agree that Israel—the only democratic society in the Middle East, the only nation-state in the region where Jews, Muslims, Druze, Christians and other ethnic and religious groups enjoy a broad spectrum of rights and freedoms—has a right to continue to exist then, congratulations, you are a Zionist.

If, on the other hand, you demand the eradication of Israel “from the river to the sea,” if you support mass-murdering Jews or are indifferent regarding that eventually, then you may consider yourself an anti-Zionist.

Borrell has expanded upon his assertion that you “don’t kill an idea” by adding that “you have to provide an alternative that’s better.” His better idea is (did you guess?) a “two-state solution.”

As he must know, Hamas forcefully rejects such a compromise based on its theological conviction that any territory ever conquered by Muslims—as the land the Romans re-named Palestine was by the imperialist/colonialist army that marched from Arabia in the 7th century—is a waqf, an endowment from Allah to the Muslims for eternity.

I might also note that a proto-two-state solution was what existed after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. Two years later Hamas violently ousted the Palestinian Authority and seized power, tolerating no competitors or dissenters.

Huge amounts of aid poured in from “the international donor community.” The United Nations provided social services such as health care and education, which soon included anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish indoctrination.

Hamas spent its energies building a mammoth and elaborate subterranean fortress to be used for the “military solution” it was planning. Hamas leaders have sheltered in it, surrounded by hostages abducted from Israel.

Above the tunnels, Gazan civilians have served as human shields. Hamas leaders knew from the start that Israelis would be blamed by U.N. officials, faux “human rights organizations,” much of the media, and others for those human shields who were killed.

Keener minds than Borrell’s have pondered terrible ideas and what to do about them. In World War II, Churchill sought to if not kill, at least cripple Nazi ideas. He understood that required defeating Nazis on the battlefield.

Of course, there are still Nazis, neo-Nazis and Nazi apologists in Europe and America.

One of their fundamental ideas, a Europe “cleansed” of Jews, has morphed into the idea behind the Tehran-led multifront war being waged against Israel—a Middle East “cleansed” of Jews.

Borrell is neither a Nazi nor a jihadist. But he and many others are helping keep a genocidal idea alive.


NYPost Editorial: Israel’s pager blasts sent just the right message to Hezbollah
That was some sublime act of counterterrorism — remotely detonating sabotaged pagers, walkie-talkies and other devices belonging to Hezbollah terrorists.

Good for Israel — even though it’s not taking credit.

The operation left at least 26 dead and thousands of terrorists hospitalized.

It also hobbled the Iran-backed terror group’s ability to communicate, and will force its members to take extra precautions for whatever they plan to do next: Will their computers soon explode?

Their cars?

Their rockets?

The move was exquisitely calibrated, hitting Hez’s thugs with minimal harm to civilians (as is typical with Israeli military operations).

The strikes will remind all Israel’s enemies that attacking it also puts them, and those around them, at risk.

And this was no escalation, just a response (or the start of one): Since Oct. 7, Hezbollah’s shot some 8,000 drones, missiles and rockets into Israel, igniting massive fires, killing Druze kids and forcing the evacuation of nearly 100,000 Israelis.

So the pager op was entirely justified: Jerusalem has demanded Hezbollah end the rocket fire and relocate north of the Litani River, about 18 miles north of the border — or risk an all-out war with the Jewish state.

Under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, worse-than-useless UN peacekeepers were supposed to see that Hezbollah was disarmed south of the river but haven’t done so in the 18 years since the resolution was passed.

Israel doesn’t want war, but Hezbollah has shown no sign it’s willing to relocate and halt its rocket fire.

Which means full-scale war is inevitable: Israel on Tuesday modified its formal war goals to include retuning residents to their homes near the Lebanon border.
Israel’s bravery has exposed the lie at the heart of Starmer’s foreign policy
Bereft of any sense of right and wrong, incapable of distinguishing heroes from villains, the West can no longer celebrate when good triumphs over evil. Israel's brilliantly audacious booby-trapping of thousands of Hizbullah pagers, followed by the blowing up of the terror group's walkie-talkies, is a stunning boost for the forces of civilization worldwide.

A tiny nation of just 9.3 million, of which 7.2 million are Jewish, living in a country the size of Wales, reeling from the worst antisemitic pogroms since the Holocaust, Israel is leading the war against barbarism. The fact that so many in Britain, Europe and America no longer take Israel's side in this existential combat exemplifies our cultural, intellectual and ethical degeneration.

The Biden administration is obsessed with preventing "escalation," even though that is what is required if Iran is to be stopped from gaining the means to wage a nuclear World War III. In a rational world, David Lammy, Britain's foreign secretary, would be privately congratulating his Israeli counterparts for the most successful surgical operation ever conducted against a terrorist organization, with few civilian casualties, and pledging Britain's help.

Pacifism is a deluded utopia that fails to grasp the reality of the human condition. It is madness to criminalize all warfare, and despicable to focus on that conducted by democracies and ignore that advanced by our enemies.

Israel is the supreme embodiment of law-bound national, democratic sovereignty, of peoplehood, of matching a nation to a state, of post-imperialism, of capitalism and technology, and of the continued relevance of the monotheistic religions.

If you tear down Israel, you destroy the very ideas that underpin the West, the international order implodes and the autocracies triumph. The stakes are thus unbelievably high. We must support Israel, and allow it to finish the job of annihilating Hamas and defeating Hizbullah.
Hezbollah cyberattack unprecedented in accuracy and impact, says West Point expert
Chair of urban warfare studies at West Point, John Spencer, expressed his amazement regarding the strategy behind the recent attack on Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon after analyzing the incident in a thread of Wednesday X/Twitter posts.

The attack on Tuesday involved the explosion of pagers used for communication among the terror group, injuring an estimated 4,000 people and killing 11.

The following day, another wave of explosions across Lebanon injured an additional 500 and resulted in 20 deaths, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry late Wednesday night report.

Spencer shared his insights on the attack, stating that while there have been significant intelligence operations and surprise attacks throughout history, he has not seen one as precise, forceful, and geographically widespread as this.

“I cannot find a similar intelligence/military operation with such secrecy, lethality, ingenuity, and audacity,” he remarked in the post.

Furthermore, he highlighted that this single operation significantly impacted Hezbollah, with reported injuries in the thousands and dozens killed.

“The attack also exposed the Hezbollah network, not just in Lebanon but in other parts of the Middle East where Hezbollah agents or affiliates carried this specific pager issued by the group,” he noted.

Spencer emphasized the psychological aspect of warfare, stating, “War is a contest of will. It includes psychology and emotion.”

Additionally, Spencer remarked on the substantial psychological impact caused by the attack, explaining that “Hezbollah cannot trust their equipment, cannot communicate (they switched to pagers out of concerns that Israel was monitoring their communications), and will likely alter many elements of their operations, which could lead to further mistakes that can be exploited. With a single push of a button, fear was instilled in Hezbollah forces.”
Hezbollah hides death toll from exploding devices, Radwan force command decimated
According to the official updates from Lebanon, 12 people were killed when thousands of pagers exploded on Tuesday and 20 in the walkie-talkie blasts on Wednesday, but in Israel officials believe that the announced dead and injured from the pager explosions is significantly lower than reality. It is estimated that there are many dozens of dead, if not more.

Significant damage was inflicted on Hezbollah's special operation forces unit Radwan force, which lost large parts of its command structure. At least 450 were injured in the explosion of the hand-held walkie-talkie radios throughout Lebanon, and these join the more than 3,000 Hezbollah operatives who were injured by the pager blasts. Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah is expected to give a speech on Thursday, in his first public remarks since the series of explosions in Lebanon.

Pagers explode on Tuesday in Lebanon
U.S. officials publicly expressed anger at not receiving an update on the operation to blow up the pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon that could lead to war while conducting diplomatic efforts for a settlement. But three sources familiar with the matter told CNN that Israeli officials had informed the United States of the intention to carry out an operation in Lebanon - including in the conversation this week between Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and his counterpart Lloyd Austin - but did not provide additional details about that operation.

"The fact that no details were given about the operation meant that the United States was left in the dark until the reports of the explosions shortly after," a source said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was on his way from Washington to Cairo when the stunned American diplomats watched live on their television screens on the plane the news from Lebanon of the operation that was reportedly a joint operation by the Mossad and the IDF.

At the press conference in Egypt, Blinken said that the United States "did not know and was not involved in these incidents." Another U.S. source said that the Americans also sent a similar message to Iran, asking Tehran not to lead an escalation. Iran's ambassador to Lebanon was injured in the explosion of one of the pagers. According to the Lebanese MTV network, he was transferred from Beirut to Tehran to complete treatment in Iran. On the same plane were about 90 other wounded people who were flown to Iran to receive treatment, along with their families.
Israel didn’t tamper with Hezbollah’s exploding pagers, it made them – New York Times
A report Thursday alleged that a Hungarian firm that apparently supplied pagers used by Hezbollah was secretly set up by Israeli spies as part of a widescale operation that appeared to culminate this week when the devices exploded, killing several and maiming thousands of Hezbollah operatives and others in Lebanon and Syria.

The New York Times claimed that rather than merely managing to tamper with the devices at some stage of their production or distribution, Israel actually “manufactured them as part of an elaborate ruse.”

The report was the latest to seemingly pull the covers back on what is widely believed to have been a secret Israeli operation that burst into the open Tuesday as thousands of devices blew up in Hezbollah strongholds.

Then on Wednesday, hundreds of walkie-talkies used by the group exploded as well, sowing fresh fears across Lebanon and underlining how much remains unknown about the apparent plot.

Citing three unnamed intelligence officers with knowledge of the operation, The New York Times reported that BAC Consulting was part of a front set up by figures in Israeli intelligence.

Two other shell companies were also created to help mask the link between BAC and the Israelis, according to the report.

The company was listed in Hungary as a limited liability company in May 2022, though a website for BAC Consulting was officially registered almost two years earlier, in October 2020, according to internet domain records.

As of April 2021, the company website offered political and business consulting, with the firm changing addresses and expanding its offerings at least three times by 2024, archival research by The Times of Israel showed.

According to the New York Times, the company supplied other firms with pagers as well, though only the ones transferred to Hezbollah were fitted with batteries that contained explosive materiel known as PETN.


Israel thwarts Iranian plot to assassinate Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Ronen Bar
Iran plotted to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, the Shin Bet, in cooperation with the police, announced on Thursday.

Its efforts were particularly intense following the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, which most of the world has attributed to Mossad. However, Israel has been careful not to take any credit for it.

In addition, the Islamic Republic, at a somewhat more vague level, explored assassinating former prime minister Naftali Bennett and other top Israeli defense officials.

The plot was to use an Israeli businessman named Moti Maman – a 73-year-old man from Ashkelon who spent extensive time living in Turkey and had financial dealings with both Turkish and Iranian people – to develop assassination plans in Israel.

To effectuate the plan, in April of this year, Turkish citizens Andrei Farouk Aslan and Guneid Aslan contacted Maman to conduct financial transactions, inviting him to the Turkish city of Samandag to meet with two representatives of a rich Iranian named Edi. In May, the meeting was held.

Israeli business in Iran
But when Maman was told that Edi could not leave Iran for Turkey, he agreed to have himself smuggled by car from Turkey into Iran, where he met Edi and a member of the Iranian security establishment named Haj.

Maman initially had requested one million dollars before undertaking any activities.

The Israeli businessman later visited Iran a second time in August and received 5,000 Euros as part of the start of his undertaking financial, logistics, and weapons-related actions for accomplishing the plot, including potentially converting a Mossad agent into a double agent.

During the second visit to Iran in August, he was smuggled again into Iran from Turkey, this time in a truck, and met again with Edi, though this time also with multiple other unidentified Iranian security officials. During this meeting, they asked him to assist with the assassination plots.

The Israeli businessman was also requested to take videos of certain Israeli sites for surveillance and intelligence gathering purposes as well as to deliver threats to Israeli citizens who Iran had contacted to carry out missions that were not complying with Iranian directives.
Daniel Greenfield: After generations of terror, Hezbollah suffered a reckoning
On Sept. 20, 1984, Hezbollah carried out a truck bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.

This is the 40th anniversary of the attack almost to the day.

The U.S. ambassador was wounded and the Army’s Kenneth V. Welch and Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Ray Wagner were killed.

But while I would like to think that someone in our military or intelligence services wanted to repay Hezbollah for these killings, not to mention the murder of hundreds of U.S. Marines, CIA officers, the torture of American personnel and the torture and murder of U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem, the odds are that it was the Israelis.

After the initial shock, Hezbollah got its propaganda act together and warned locals not to film wounded terrorists. The media is already rebroadcasting the terror group’s claims that those killed were children, who are of course the ones most likely to be carrying pagers for a terrorist group.

The only thing this propaganda reveals is that there’s no such thing as an acceptable way to kill an Islamic terrorist.

Conversely, that means that every possible way to kill an Islamic terrorist is acceptable.

After generations of terror, Hezbollah has finally suffered a reckoning. And whoever may have been responsible, it’s a good day to remember the 40th anniversary of the bombing of the U.S. Embassy.

Justice may be delayed, but it comes.
'Iranian proxies and drug lords': Lebanese react to Hezbollah's ‘pager intifada’
Dr. Ghassan Bou Diab
Peace activist, and director of Demokrattia Center for Research & Strategic Studies

I want to address directly the leader of a militia that dominates my country and jeopardizes its sovereignty.

Hassan Nasrallah has plunged his community and his people into a confrontation with the State of Israel, one of the foremost nations in terms of technological and military advancement, all under the pretext of “supporting Gaza.”

The day after the terrorist Hamas began its fateful operation, Nasrallah initiated gunfire into Israeli territory, causing tens of thousands of innocent civilians to flee their homes. He supported the terrorist organization in its horrific crime of kidnapping hostages and using civilians as human shields.

Nasrallah’s misguided bets have characterized his entire journey. He gambled that Israel could not withstand a prolonged war, but Israel surprised everyone, and the war continued for nearly a year. He bet on the collapse of the political, security, and military institutions, yet Israel has proven to be cohesive and fighting for its own existence – a critical component not found in the combat doctrine of younger, inexperienced militants.

Nasrallah has gambled on direct Iranian intervention in the battle, only to see Khamenei retreat and limit himself to prayer as he witnessed US aircraft carriers sailing with terrifying weaponry capable of annihilating half the globe. He relied on international diplomatic pressure and protests around the world, yet he failed because his “axis” was the one that initiated the aggression.

Now, Nasrallah and most of his affiliates were subject to an astonishing military intelligence operation unprecedented in history, resulting in thousands of their members being injured or killed. Frankly, most Lebanese are not reveling in this situation, as it is not in the Lebanese character to gloat over the enemy. On the contrary, some even donated blood in hospitals.

But what comes next? Is this a battle that he really believes can be won?
MEMRI: Hizbullah Sec.-Gen. Hassan Nasrallah: Pager Attacks Are 'Declaration Of War'; Potential Israeli Military Action In Southern Lebanon 'A Historic Opportunity' Which Hizbullah Eagerly Anticipates
Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah spoke in a September 19, 2024, address about the pager blasts that rocked the party's personnel across Lebanon.[1] Nasrallah said that the party's "first response" to Israel's "despicable crime" was to continue to assist Gaza, saying that such attacks only make Hizbullah "more resilient." He also declared that he looks forward to any military action in southern Lebanon as a "historic opportunity."

Nasrallah began his address by extending gratitude to those people who expressed willingness to donate blood and organs to treat the wounded. He also thanked countries that expressed willingness to assist, as well as "resistance axis" countries and beyond who condemned Israel's "despicable crime."

This Was A Terrorist Act Tantamount To "A Declaration Of War"

On the explosions, Nasrallah said that the "enemy" did not care about the presence of 4,000 pager holders used by its operatives in civilian areas, stressing that carrying out such attack was a deliberate intent to kill 4,000 people in one minute.

"Over the course of two days and in one minute each day, the enemy wanted to kill 5,000 people in two minutes without caring about anything," he said.

"The Israeli criminal act in Lebanon is a major terrorist operation, an act of genocide, and a massacre tantamount to a declaration of war," he declared.

To Netanyahu And Galant: The Northern Front "Will Not Stop Before The Aggression On Gaza Is Ceased, No Matter The Sacrifices"

Nasrallah continued, addressing Israeli political and military leadership: "In the name of the martyrs, the wounded, and all the perseverant, loyal ones, we say to [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, [Defense Minister Yoav] Galant, and the enemy: the Lebanese front will not halt action before the aggression on Gaza is ceased, whatever the sacrifices."

He further stressed that no matter how heavy or serious the sacrifices, consequences, possibilities, and "the direction the region is headed" will be, the resistance in Lebanon would not cease its support and assistance to the people of Gaza.

"This is our first response," he notes.

The Attacks Make Hizbullah "Stronger," "More Resilient"

On the potential damage to Hizbullah's structure, Nasrallah said that it has not been shaken, adding: "Our resolve is solid," and the attacks only made Hizbullah "stronger, and more resilient."

In a defiant tone, the Hizbullah leader stated that the group had accepted the challenge since October 8, 2023, and reiterated that it accepts it again today.

He again addressed Netanyahu and his government, saying that Israelis "will not be able to return to the northern area, adding: "Do whatever you wish to."

"If you want the settlers to return, your only way is to stop the aggression on Gaza," he repeated.

The Security Belt Proposal: A Historic Opportunity We Look Forward To

Nasrallah mocked the remarks of Israeli armed forces' commander of the northern region, who suggested the establishment of a security belt, as "foolish."

"We hope that they enter our Lebanese land and what the enemy considers a threat, we consider to be a historic opportunity we look forward to."

"If you want to come to our land, the security belt will turn into a mire, a trap, an ambush, an abyss, and hell for your military," noting that Israel would see hundreds of those who were wounded in the pager blasts of September 17 and 18 "ready to resist and fight you."

Nasrallah threatened an upcoming "day of dire account," saying: "The news is what you see, not what you hear," and concluded: "The enemy's foolish, narcissistic, reckless leadership will lead the entity [Israel] to a deep abyss, towards its third destruction."
Nasrallah acknowledges ‘unprecedented’ defeat in alleged Israeli attacks
Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir are “leading their entity into a destructive abyss and a third historic humiliation,” said Nasrallah, referencing the destruction of the Jewish Temples in Jerusalem in 586 BCE and 70 C.E.

Hezbollah’s cross-border attacks on the Jewish state will continue, “no matter the consequences,” until Israel Defense Forces troops leave the Gaza Strip and end the campaign against Hamas terrorists, he said.

Regarding a possible Israeli ground operation in Southern Lebanon, the Hezbollah chief declared that “if they come to us, they are welcome, and we will consider this threat a historic opportunity that we hope for.

“The [IDF] commander of the northern region [OC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin], a fool, proposed creating a buffer zone [in Lebanon],” Nasrallah said. “If you think you’re building a security belt around the resistance and you think you’re limiting the fighting to this zone, your military centers will be targeted in the north of occupied Palestine [northern Israel] and even further!”

On Tuesday, 3,000-plus Hezbollah operatives were wounded and at least 34 were killed when their pagers exploded, with the Lebanese terrorist group immediately blaming the Jewish state.

The Israeli military declined to comment on the two waves of explosions—the first of which came hours after the Israeli Cabinet added the return of citizens displaced from their homes in the north to the country’s war goals, bringing a major clash with Hezbollah closer.

Hezbollah has attacked Israel nearly daily since Oct. 8, firing thousands of rockets, missiles and drones. The attacks have killed more than 40 people and caused widespread damage. Tens of thousands of civilians remain internally displaced due to the violence.

A U.S. official told ABC News on Tuesday that Hezbollah and its Iranian patrons will likely retaliate against Israel for the pager attacks, but “it could take them time to do so while they assess what happened.”

Israeli security officials also believe that Hezbollah is preparing for a large-scale assault in response to the attack attributed to Jerusalem, the Israeli Kan News public broadcaster reported on Tuesday night.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on Wednesday night approved “attack and defense plans for the north,” the army said.

“We still have many capabilities that we have not yet activated—I repeat, we have not yet activated. We saw some of these things here,” Halevi said in remarks made at IDF Northern Command headquarters in Safed.

“The rule is that every time we work on a certain stage, the next two stages are already ready to advance. At each stage, the price for Hezbollah must be high,” the Israeli army chief said.
Nasrallah dares Israel to invade Lebanon in speech, calls it 'historic opportunity'
He called the attacks a “major terrorist operation,” adding, “We will define the events of Tuesday and Wednesday as massacres.” He said that Hezbollah has initiated “several internal investigation committees, explored all scenarios and possibilities, and have reached an almost final conclusion: these massacres amount to war crimes or a declaration of war.”

Nasrallah also vowed to punish Israel for the attacks, stating that the country would face “a crushing response from the axis of resistance. Tuesday and Wednesday were bloody days, but we will be able to overcome this ordeal, and this blow won’t bring us down,” he added.

Turkey said on Thursday that it is reviewing its measures to secure the communication devices used by its armed forces after the blasts in Lebanon.

The Turkish Defense Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Turkey’s military exclusively used domestically produced equipment but Ankara had additional control mechanisms in place if a third party is involved in procurement or production of devices.

“Whether in the operations we carry out, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and as with the Lebanon example, measures are reviewed and new measures are being developed as part of the lessons learned following each development,” the official said.

“In the context of this incident, we as the Defense Ministry are carrying out the necessary examinations,” the person added, without providing further detail.

The unprecedented attacks have prompted concerns over cybersecurity around the region.

Iraq’s national security council said on Wednesday it would take preventive measures against any possible breach from electronic imports, adding that intensive security checks will be implemented on imports along with stronger border checks.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Thursday told the state-owned Anadolu news agency that establishing an independent agency for cybersecurity specifically was on the government’s agenda after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced a necessity for it, and added it would be formed “very soon.”

Hadi Al Bahra, president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, told Reuters in an interview in Istanbul on Thursday that the blasts in Lebanon had prompted some opposition forces in northern Syria to rethink the security of communication devices and supply chains.

“It’s a point of concern for them and they are reviewing their gear,” he said of the Syrian National Army, an opposition faction backed by Turkey which controls swathes of territory in northern Syria.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Thursday evening that Israel will keep up military action against Hezbollah, though the new phase of fighting does include significant risks.

“In the new phase of the war, there are significant opportunities but also significant risks. Hezbollah feels that it is being persecuted and the sequence of military actions will continue,” Gallant said.

“Our goal is to ensure the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes. As time goes by, Hezbollah will pay an increasing price.”
Israeli warplanes break sound barrier over Beirut as Nasrallah vows revenge
Israeli warplanes have reportedly been heard over Beirut as tensions between Israel and Lebanon reach breaking point.

Sonic booms could be heard across the Lebanese capital on Thursday afternoon, two days after the pager attack on Hezbollah and a day after the walkie-talkie explosions.

Videos being circulated on social media show Israeli fighter jets flying low and shooting flares.

The latest development came as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah conceded the group had suffered a “major and unprecedented” blow, and vowed revenge.

In a televised address, Nasrallah said: “We will not fall, and we will come out stronger. We are preparing to face even worse attacks.”


Honestly with Bari Weiss PodCast: Hezbollah's Pagers and Walkie-Talkies Explode. Now What?

7 Social Media Influencers Making False Claims About the Pager Attack
On September 17th, thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah terrorists across Lebanon appeared to combust spontaneously, killing at least nine people and injuring thousands of Hezbollah terrorists. This has also caused a wave of fake news and misinformation being promoted by anti-Israel influencers across social media.

1. Bassem Youssef is a comedian and former Egyptian TV host. In his most recent post on X, he claims Israel is capable of detonating phones and tablets whenever and wherever they wish. This claim is entirely false, as Israel possesses no such technology.

2. Jackson Hinkle, an influencer who’s been removed from every social media platform except for X for promoting misinformation, posted to his 2.7 million followers the false claim that “Israel killed mostly civilians in their pager attack, and ZERO members of Hezbollah’s senior command.”. Both Iranian state media and Hezbollah themselves have confirmed that several Hezbollah terrorists have died.

3. Influencer Syrian Girl (@Partisangirl) posted on X that Israel “didn’t target Hezbollah members. They targeted everyone with a pager…”. This is fake news; only the pagers belonging to Hezbollah operatives were reported to have been affected.
The Zionist terrorist didn’t target Hezbollah members. They targeted everyone with a pager including doctors and nurses, killing a child. This is a nation wide terrorist attack. pic.twitter.com/9ojtlDMuHg

— Syrian Girl ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡พ (@Partisangirl) September 17, 2024
Media Forget the Exploding Devices Were in the Pockets of Hezbollah Terrorists
The pager attack targeting thousands of Hezbollah terrorists — which Israel is believed to be behind — stands as one of the most precise, large-scale counterterrorism operations ever conducted.

CCTV footage from Beirut and its suburbs reveals the meticulous coordination of the blasts, showing members of the Iranian-backed Lebanese group struck by explosions from booby-trapped devices they were carrying.

While Israel has not officially commented or acknowledged any responsibility, a former Israeli official, quoted by Axios, stated that Israeli intelligence planted explosives in devices Hezbollah had imported for a future operation. The attack was expedited to prevent Hezbollah from uncovering the trap.

Though some details of Tuesday’s events remain unclear — like the devices’ origin and how they were rigged — one fact is indisputable, confirmed even by Hezbollah: this was a precision strike targeting their militants within a globally recognized terrorist organization.

Who Were the Targets?

This truth was largely obscured by international media in their early coverage of the attack. Several outlets, including The Guardian, BBC, and the UK’s Daily Mirror, found creative ways to sidestep mentioning Hezbollah altogether in headlines, referring to it instead as an “exploding pager attack in Lebanon.” The Mirror went a step further, calling it a “bizarre” incident, suggesting that thousands of random people — and their pagers — were the targets, rather than Hezbollah militants.

Meanwhile, ABC News framed the event as “wireless devices” mysteriously exploding “in the hands of their owners,” despite quoting a Hezbollah-owned media outlet as its source.


The Israel Guys: 124 Countries Just Voted for the DESTRUCTION of the State of Israel
The UN with an overwhelming majority just passed a new resolution against Israel essentially saying that Israel has no right to self defense in Gaza, Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. They called on all member states not to sell military equipment to Israel, and, more than that, demanded the permanent removal of 800,000 Jews from their homes. And to make it all a little more ludicrous, the resolution stated that it must be completed within the next 12 months. To put it plainly, Iran has just successfully enlisted 124 nations as partners and proxies in their war against Israel.


Israel offers to end war, let Sinwar leave if all hostages freed at once, Gaza disarmed
Israel has put a proposal on the table that would end fighting in the Gaza Strip and give the head of Hamas safe passage out of the enclave in exchange for the immediate release of all hostages held in Gaza, the demilitarization of the Strip and the establishment of an alternative governing power there, Kan news reported Thursday.

An Israeli official confirmed the outlines of the report to The Times of Israel and said Gal Hirsch, the government point man on the hostages, had presented the plan to American officials, who were expected to pass it on to unspecified Arab officials.

Hirsch told families of hostages that the proposal had been presented last week in a meeting with US officials from the White House and State Department, Kan said.

But Hamas politburo member Ghazi Hamad swiftly rejected the offer, telling Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “the proposal for Sinwar’s exit is ridiculous and indicates the negotiating bankruptcy of the occupation.”

It “confirms the occupation’s denial of what happened throughout eight months of negotiations. Negotiations are stuck due to the intransigence of the Israeli position,” Hamad said.

Throughout the war and ceasefire negotiations, Hamas has appeared determined to maintain control of the Strip under any agreement.

The framework proposal would appear to mark a backtrack from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vows to continue fighting until Hamas is destroyed and terror group head Yahya Sinwar dead, but would still adhere to the official goals of the war by seeing to the effective dismantling of Hamas and a return of the captives.

And it could ease domestic pressure on the government that is focused on the call to save the hostages, as well as international pressure to halt hostilities, thereby allowing Israel to give greater attention to the Hezbollah terror group, its Iran-backed foe to the north.

According to Kan, all 101 hostages still held in the Strip would be returned at once and Israel would end the war under the proposal, which eschews the staged hostage release and incremental troop withdrawal that had been under discussion until now.

Israel would also release an unspecified number of Palestinian inmates from Israeli prison, and allow Sinwar — widely believed to be the mastermind behind the October 7 attack — to leave the Strip along with any other Gazans who wish to leave with him.

No further details were given.
IDF mostly dismantles Hamas Tel Sultan Battalion, kills over 300
Over the past month, the 401st Brigade of the IDF has successfully eliminated over 300 terrorists in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, the IDF announced on Thursday.

They also announced that they had dismantled most of the command structure of the Tel Sultan Battalion of Hamas.

In addition, soldiers also located and destroyed weapons such as long-range rockets, sniper rifles, magazines, anti-tank missiles, and grenades.

Fallen soldiers
During the IDF's operational activity in Rafah earlier this week, four IDF soldiers were killed in a building explosion, including IDF St.-Sgt. Agam Naim, who was the first female IDF soldier to fall in combat in the Gaza Strip.

Staff Sergeant Amit Bakri, Staff Sergeant Dotan Shimon and Captain Daniel Mimon Toaff were also killed in the explosion.
Two soldiers killed in Hezbollah attacks, bringing IDF toll to 715
Two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed on Thursday in Hezbollah attacks in the north, the military announced.

The slain troops were named as: Maj. (res.) Nael Fwarsy, 43, of the 300th “Baram” Regional Brigade’s 299th Battalion, from Maghar; and Sgt. Tomer Keren, 20, of the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, from Haifa.

Fwarsy was killed when an explosive-laden drone launched from Lebanon struck near Moshav Ya’ara in the Western Galilee.

Keren was killed when two anti-tank missiles fired by Hezbollah struck the Ramim Ridge area in the Eastern Galilee.

In a statement published several hours after the deadly attacks, the IDF announced that fighter jets struck some “30 Hezbollah launchers and terrorist infrastructure sites, containing approximately 150 launcher barrels that were ready to fire projectiles toward Israeli territory.”

“Additionally, the IDF struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure and a weapons storage facility in multiple areas in Southern Lebanon,” the army stated.


The Commentary Magazine Podcast: What’s Israel’s Next Move?
Hosted by Abe Greenwald, Christine Rosen, John Podhoretz & Matthew Continetti Today a full house discusses how Israel might be preparing for a war in its north, whether we’ve mistakenly bought into recent polling about Kamala Harris’s progress, the potential political effect of the Fed rate cut, and more.


UN Watch: Hillel Neuer on Fox News: The U.N. "have found ways, absurdly, to condemn Israel"
Hillel Neuer's September 18th appearance on Fox News with Trace Gallagher and Lisa Daftari to discuss the U.N.'s condemnatory response to the recent explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah terrorists.




Douglas Murray applauds pager explosion attack against Hezbollah
Author Douglas Murray has applauded the pager explosion attack on Hezbollah members which was assumed to have been launched by Israel.

“This is the deliberate targeting of Hezbollah terrorists in the most targeted, precise and somewhat personal way imaginable,” Mr Murray told Sky News host Rita Panahi.

“The people who say that this is indiscriminate seem not to have noticed that if you have a Hezbollah pager device or Hezbollah walkie-talkie on you, the chances are you may well be a member of Hezbollah and Hezbollah is a designated terrorist organisation, and therefore you're just not innocent.”






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