A military official said Israel does not want war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Ramla, Israel:
A senior Israeli military official told AFP that Israel does not want war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah but is prepared to face about 2,000 rockets a day from the armed group.
In May of this year, Israeli forces fought 11 days of fighting in the Gaza Strip against Palestinian armed groups, who fired some 4,400 projectiles toward the Jewish state.
Israel says its Iron Dome defense system, which has been in use for nearly a decade, intercepted about 90 percent of rockets heading into populated areas, while only 300 hit populated districts.
The rate of fire seen in the 2006 war against Hezbollah was the same number of rocket launches from Lebanon — but over the course of about a month — the Israeli military said.
In May, cities such as Tel Aviv and Ashdod experienced the “most fires towards them in the history of Israel”, said Uri Gordin, the head of the army’s Home Front command.
“We have seen more than 400 rockets fired towards Israel every day.”
He added that “in case of conflict or war with Hezbollah, we expect more than five times the number of rockets fired each day from Lebanon to Israel”.
“Basically we are looking for 1,500 to 2,500 rockets a day to be fired at Israel,” he told AFP.
‘wake up call’
Established in 1992 after the First Gulf War, Gordon’s Home Front Command is in charge of civil defense, meaning it is responsible for preparing the country in case of danger, conflict, or disaster.
The unit has been criticized for its response to the 2006 war with Hezbollah, which killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers.
Gordin said the war was a “wake-up call” for Home Front Command, adding that it had increased its liaison units, now operating in 250 Israeli municipalities, to provide assistance in case of any attack. Huh.
Home Front Command uses computer projections to predict a rocket’s trajectory after its launch, and advises the public, within a specific range, to move to bomb shelters.
During the Gaza conflict in May, this allowed emergency services to “go on every incident in less than five minutes,” Gordin said from the control room of the unit’s headquarters in Ramla, near Tel Aviv.
He said that preparations have been made for any incident along the border with Lebanon.
‘source of instability’
An Israeli security source said the Israeli military expects “stability” in its northern neighbor, which has been mired in a severe economic crisis and witnessed deadly sectarian clashes in the capital Beirut on Thursday, including seven Hezbollah members. People were killed.
The security source said Iran-backed Hezbollah was “a source of instability in Lebanon”, adding that the group “exploits state resources for Iranian interests”.
The source said Iran is “closer to making fissile material for nuclear weapons in the past” but will still need two years to obtain the bomb, echoing the time frame cited by other Israeli officials.
Tehran insists that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.
“We are preparing for all options and scenarios, including military capabilities,” the security source said.
Israel has been strongly opposed to the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
The agreement has been on lifelong support ever since President Donald Trump withdrew the US in 2018 and reimposed severe sanctions.
But Israel could adjust to a new deal if it ensures Tehran will never receive a nuclear bomb, some Israeli officials have suggested recently, as top Israeli ally the US talks to Iran after months of suspended talks. Wants to push back on the table.
However, US President Joe Biden’s administration also indicated on Wednesday it could resort to force if diplomacy fails, rallying more closely than ever behind Israel’s warnings on the possibility of military action.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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