Posted on 10/16/2023 11:28:01 AM PDT by FarCenter
Observers fear that Hezbollah joining war against Israel could cause devastation in Lebanon and regional escalation.
Has Hezbollah fought Israel before?
In July 2006, Hezbollah captured two Israeli fighters on its border which triggered a massive military response from Israel. The war lasted 34 days and resulted in the death of more than 1,100 Lebanese nationals and 165 Israelis.
Nobody conclusively won the war, but Lebanese civilians were the clear losers. Israel destroyed or damaged about 30,000 homes, 109 bridges and 78 medical facilities, according to the International Committee for the Red Cross.
Nicholas Blanford, an expert on Hezbollah with the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington, DC, said the group had 3,000 to 5,000 fighters and short-range missiles to hit Israel.
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How strong is Hezbollah today?
Blanford estimated that Hezbollah has at least 60,000 fighters, including full-time and reservists. The group also increased its stockpile of missiles from 14,000 in 2006 to about 150,000 now, he said.
Most are short-range, Hezbollah also has Iranian precision-guided missiles that have a range of 300km (186 miles). Blanford added that Hezbollah’s “special forces” unit is trained to infiltrate Israel in the event of a war.
“It’s not a surprise perhaps that Israeli officials have over the last few years considered Hezbollah to be their primary threat,” he told Al Jazeera.
Randa Slim, the director of the Conflict and Resolutions Program at the Middle East Institute, also told Al Jazeera that the Syrian war – where Hezbollah intervened on the side of President Bashar al-Assad – enabled the group to improve its combat capabilities.
“In Syria, which was a prolonged war, they gained new skills in terms of urban warfare and intelligence. Their intelligence systems improved a lot,” she told Al Jazeera.
(Excerpt) Read more at aljazeera.com ...
Nobody seems to mention the obvious that if Hezbollah starts launching their missiles those two US Aircraft Carriers and the recently repositioned Air Force Fighter jets will make one hell of a mess out of their launch sites and any invasion force they deploy on the ground. I am surprised that nobody in the media including Fox want to talk about that. They just say there wont be any US “Ground Forces” but don’t mention the purpose of all that Air Force that is moving into the area. It provides meaning to the word “DON’T”.
Same old stuff. We can terrorize the hell out of you, but you can't strike back because "civilians" might get hurt.
Best that the carriers stay near Cyprus, out of range of Hezbollah anti-ship missiles.
no, best that Hezbollah doesn’t try to launch any missiles
lest they get the “Gaza Treatment”
Considering Biden gave them (through Iran) billions of dollars and armed them through sales from the weapons he gave to the Taliban, sure they can. What do they have to lose? They have men, materials, weapons, and fanatical hate filled morale. They know the western world will give them all the aid they want when they are utterly crushed. They literally have nothing to lose.
With Biden in charge he probably sent the whole Naval fleet to collect his pallets of cash headed to Chomo Joe’s Delaware house. I don’t believe for a second Biden will get tough with the jihadis. He has been paid off by every terrorist supporting jihadi s hole on earth.
Hezbollah is in Lebanon and is primarily made up of Lebanese Shiites. The other main Lebanese Shiite political organization is Amal. Hezbollah’s founding in 1982 was supported by Iran, and Iran had provided assistance since then.
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