Israel Hits Hezbollah Post in Lebanon

[Lipush]

Aircraft belonging to the Israeli Air Force (IAF) launched two air raids against a Hezbollah post on the border between Lebanon and Syria on Monday evening, a security source told the Lebanese Daily Star.

The source said Israeli planes launched four rockets on the Janta area in the mountains separating the Lebanese village of Nabi Sheet from the Syrian border.

The source noted that the Janta area is known to house a Hezbollah post, where recruitment and training are carried out.

Janta is also a well-known route for arms smuggling between Lebanon and Syria, the source told the Daily Star.

The Al Arabiya network reported that members of Hezbollah were killed in the airstrikes, but no further details were provided.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP that target of the Israeli strike was a Hezbollah "missile base."

Israel Hits Hezbollah Post in Lebanon - Defense/Security - News - Israel National News

-------

 

[aris2chat]

Serghaya Syria was hit.

 

[MJB12741]

Wonderful news. Bravo Israel!

Aircraft belonging to the Israeli Air Force (IAF) launched two air raids against a Hezbollah post on the border between Lebanon and Syria on Monday evening, a security source told the Lebanese Daily Star.

The source said Israeli planes launched four rockets on the Janta area in the mountains separating the Lebanese village of Nabi Sheet from the Syrian border.

The source noted that the Janta area is known to house a Hezbollah post, where recruitment and training are carried out.

Janta is also a well-known route for arms smuggling between Lebanon and Syria, the source told the Daily Star.

The Al Arabiya network reported that members of Hezbollah were killed in the airstrikes, but no further details were provided.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP that target of the Israeli strike was a Hezbollah "missile base."

Israel Hits Hezbollah Post in Lebanon - Defense/Security - News - Israel National News

-------

 

[toastman]

Al mawt li Hezbollah!

 

[waltky]

Hezbollah honing their battle skills in Syria...

Israel Watches Warily as Hezbollah Gains Battle Skills in Syria
MARCH 10, 2014 — Hezbollah’s distracting and costly engagement in the Syrian civil war has offered some practical benefit to Israelis. It has also been a source of foreboding.

On the one hand, Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese Shiite organization that fought a monthlong war against Israel in 2006, is preoccupied with shoring up the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria in its struggle against rebel forces, and is suffering losses. But Hezbollah is also acquiring battlefield experience, and the only way for Mr. Assad, a longtime Hezbollah ally, to repay the group is by supplying it with sophisticated weapons, according to Israeli military officials and experts — strengths that could eventually be used against Israel. “Hezbollah has 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers today in Syria,” a senior Israeli military officer told reporters at army headquarters here last week. “This is a major burden for Hezbollah but also a major advantage.” Speaking on the condition of anonymity in accordance with Israeli Army rules, he added, “I have no doubt that Hezbollah gained much more self-confidence because of the Syrian experience.”

Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets at Israel during the 2006 war, which began after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on the Israel-Lebanon border. More than 1,000 Lebanese and dozens of Israelis were killed in the fighting, which ended with a United Nations-brokered cease-fire. The war was deemed a failure by many Israelis, though experts say it restored a degree of deterrence. Since then, Israel’s border with Lebanon has been mostly quiet. But Israel is preparing intensively for another possible round of fighting with Hezbollah, which military planners here see as inevitable. In their view, the experience gained by Hezbollah’s commanders and fighters in Syria is likely to make that next round more challenging for Israel. “This kind of experience cannot be bought,” said Gabi Siboni, director of the military and strategic affairs program at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.

Israeli soldiers trained in the Golan Heights last week. Israel has been preparing intensively for another possible round of fighting with Hezbollah.

Mr. Siboni and other analysts said that Hezbollah’s experience in Syria should not be overstated since the group is fighting rebel forces like the Free Syrian Army and jihadist groups, not a modern, regular army. Still, Mr. Siboni said: “It is an additional factor that we will have to deal with. There is no replacement for experience, and it is not to be scoffed at.” While the Israeli military used to plan for conventional armored battle — tanks against tanks — now its forces train to withstand fighters who have antitank missiles and secret underground hide-outs. Over the last two years, according to military officials, much Israeli Army training has moved from the southern desert to the Galilee region in the north, where the terrain is similar to that of Lebanon and Syria.

At the same time, the Israeli military is conducting a mostly covert campaign to maintain a qualitative edge over Hezbollah and curb the buildup of the group’s weaponry. Israel has refused to confirm or deny involvement in about half a dozen airstrikes over the past year, mostly in Syrian territory. But Israel’s leaders have said they will act to prevent transfers of sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah from Syria, such as accurate, long-range rockets and shore-to-ship or ground-to-air missiles. Israel is also concerned about Hezbollah’s acquisition of unmanned aerial vehicles, more commonly known as drones or U.A.V.’s.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Israel responds to Hezbollah attack...

Israel fires into Lebanon after Hezbollah attack
Oct 7,`14 -- Israel fired toward Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon on Tuesday after the Shiite guerrillas set off an explosion along the tense border that wounded two Israeli soldiers, in the most serious incident between the two countries in months.

The Israeli military said soldiers were on a patrol when an explosive device went off. Israeli troops then found a second explosive device on the Israeli side of the border, which was detonated by Israeli bomb squads. Israeli forces then responded by firing artillery toward two Hezbollah positions in Lebanon. On its Al Manar TV station, Hezbollah issued a statement claiming responsibility for the blast, saying it targeted an Israeli patrol. The admission marked a rare instance of an open clash between the two bitter enemies and a stark flare-up after years of relative calm.

Israel and Lebanon have been in a state of war for six decades, but the border area has remained largely quiet since a month-long war in the summer of 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah. There have been sporadic outbursts of violence since then. Israel suspects that Hezbollah may be looking to flex its muscles along the border to deflect attention away from its struggles in fighting against Islamic rebels in Syria. Israeli officials said Tuesday's attack marked an escalation, but they did not expect it to devolve into an all-out conflict. "The Lebanese government and Hezbollah are directly liable for this blatant breach of Israel's sovereignty," said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces. "The IDF responded to the unprovoked aggression against its forces and will continue to operate in order to maintain the safety of the northern border of Israel."

Hezbollah fighters hold their party flags, as they parade during the opening of new cemetery for colleagues who died in fighting against Israel, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. An explosion along the Israel-Lebanon border wounded two Israeli soldiers Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014, and the military then fired toward Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon in the most serious incident between the enemy countries in months. Hezbollah issued a statement on the group’s Al Manar TV station claiming responsibility for the blast in Shebaa on Tuesday, saying it targeted an Israeli patrol.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has "proven that we will respond strongly against any attempts to harm us." The incident comes two days after Israeli soldiers opened fire after what they said was a border breach in the Shebaa farms area. Lebanon's military countered that one of its army outposts came under Israeli fire, and one soldier was lightly wounded. Fearful of provoking Israel, Hezbollah has rarely taken responsibility for attacks since the 2006 war. The group is heavily involved in Syria's civil war, fighting alongside President Bashar Assad's forces. The attack against Israel comes two days after Hezbollah had at least eight fighters killed when members of Syria's al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front attacked the group's positions near the Syria border.

Hezbollah officials have said their involvement in Syria does not affect their readiness to fight Israel if a war breaks out. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday's incident violated a U.N. Security Council resolution that was adopted to end the 2006 war. He said the U.N. force in Lebanon, which has been in place for decades, has launched an investigation and contacted both sides to urge restraint. "Such actions are in contravention of efforts to reduce tensions and establish a stable and secure environment in southern Lebanon," Dujarric said.

News from The Associated Press

 

[aris2chat]

Israel responds to Hezbollah attack...

Israel fires into Lebanon after Hezbollah attack
Oct 7,`14 -- Israel fired toward Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon on Tuesday after the Shiite guerrillas set off an explosion along the tense border that wounded two Israeli soldiers, in the most serious incident between the two countries in months.

The Israeli military said soldiers were on a patrol when an explosive device went off. Israeli troops then found a second explosive device on the Israeli side of the border, which was detonated by Israeli bomb squads. Israeli forces then responded by firing artillery toward two Hezbollah positions in Lebanon. On its Al Manar TV station, Hezbollah issued a statement claiming responsibility for the blast, saying it targeted an Israeli patrol. The admission marked a rare instance of an open clash between the two bitter enemies and a stark flare-up after years of relative calm.

Israel and Lebanon have been in a state of war for six decades, but the border area has remained largely quiet since a month-long war in the summer of 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah. There have been sporadic outbursts of violence since then. Israel suspects that Hezbollah may be looking to flex its muscles along the border to deflect attention away from its struggles in fighting against Islamic rebels in Syria. Israeli officials said Tuesday's attack marked an escalation, but they did not expect it to devolve into an all-out conflict. "The Lebanese government and Hezbollah are directly liable for this blatant breach of Israel's sovereignty," said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces. "The IDF responded to the unprovoked aggression against its forces and will continue to operate in order to maintain the safety of the northern border of Israel."

Hezbollah fighters hold their party flags, as they parade during the opening of new cemetery for colleagues who died in fighting against Israel, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. An explosion along the Israel-Lebanon border wounded two Israeli soldiers Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014, and the military then fired toward Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon in the most serious incident between the enemy countries in months. Hezbollah issued a statement on the group’s Al Manar TV station claiming responsibility for the blast in Shebaa on Tuesday, saying it targeted an Israeli patrol.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has "proven that we will respond strongly against any attempts to harm us." The incident comes two days after Israeli soldiers opened fire after what they said was a border breach in the Shebaa farms area. Lebanon's military countered that one of its army outposts came under Israeli fire, and one soldier was lightly wounded. Fearful of provoking Israel, Hezbollah has rarely taken responsibility for attacks since the 2006 war. The group is heavily involved in Syria's civil war, fighting alongside President Bashar Assad's forces. The attack against Israel comes two days after Hezbollah had at least eight fighters killed when members of Syria's al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front attacked the group's positions near the Syria border.

Hezbollah officials have said their involvement in Syria does not affect their readiness to fight Israel if a war breaks out. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday's incident violated a U.N. Security Council resolution that was adopted to end the 2006 war. He said the U.N. force in Lebanon, which has been in place for decades, has launched an investigation and contacted both sides to urge restraint. "Such actions are in contravention of efforts to reduce tensions and establish a stable and secure environment in southern Lebanon," Dujarric said.

News from The Associated Press

Hezbullah boasted responsibility for the attacks on IDF soldiers. An injured hand is a small price for trying to start an incident and take focus off the syrian conflict.