موقع دبيكا الإسرائيلي: لماذا سُمِح لنصر الله أن يتفلت من العقاب؟ اسرائل كشفت مكان مصنع تحديث صواريخ حزب الله لكنها لم تقصفه/DEBKA File: Why was Nasrallah let off the hook? The IDF exposed – but did not bomb – the Iranian precise missile plant in Lebanon/AFP, Jerusalem: Israeli army says it uncovers Lebanon’s Hezbollah missile site
Israeli army says it uncovers Lebanon’s Hezbollah missile site AFP, Jerusalem/Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Why was Nasrallah let off the hook? The IDF exposed – but did not bomb – the Iranian precise missile plant in Lebanon موقع دبيكا الإسرائيلي: لماذا سُمِح لنصر الله أن يتفلت من العقاب؟ اسرائل كشفت مكان مصنع تحديث صواريخ حزب الله لكنها لم تقصفه DEBKA File/September 04/2019
موقع دبيكا الإسرائيلي: ممارسات إسرائيل خلال الأيام الماضية أهدت حزب الله معلومات قيمة مفادها أن بأمكانه الإستمرار في تحديث مخزونه من الصواريخ. قصف إسرائيل يوم الأحد الماضي استهدف حقول فارغة وبعيدة عن قواعد حزب الله وأمكنه تواجد رجاله.
Who decided to let Hizballah get away with a rocket attack on the Israeli military on Sunday, Sept. 1?
IDF retaliation was impressive. But the heavy smoke blanketing wide fields of south Lebanon concealed the fact that the IDF had shelled empty fields, well away from Hizballah bases or manpower.
Similarly, when the military spokesman reported an Israeli air strike against the Hizballah rocket launch squad, no one was hurt.
The same policy appears to have been applied to the production in Lebanon of precision missiles, despite the dire threats of destruction coming from Israel’s leaders.
On Tuesday night, Sept. 3, the IDF made a big show of discovering a secret Iranian-Hizballah factory upgrading surface rockets to precise missiles at Nebi Shait in the Lebanese Beqaa valley.
While displaying a detailed diagram showing the inside workings of the factory, the IDF spokesman omitted to explain why it was still standing and not destroyed.
And although the military spokesman could tell reporters that the valuable production equipment was being dismantled and transported to hidden storage sites, he left unanswered the question of why the trucks carrying the equipment were not bombed in transit.
These unanswered questions lead to the conclusion that Israel has desisted from offensive operations against Hizballah in Lebanon ever since its drone attack of Aug. 24 on the Dahya suburb of Beirut.
Demonstrating the existence of a missile conversion factory in Lebanon to prove Hassan Nasrallah’s denials were false was no big deal. After all, he never took any prizes for telling the truth.
Could the IDF be pulling its punches to avoid an all-out war with casualties in the short time left before the Sept. 17 general election?
Or do Israel’s government and military leaders trust that the information they release will scare the Lebanese people into leaning hard on Hizballah to shut down its missile upgrade project?
That would be naïve; trusting ordinary people to rise up against brutal leaders has never worked in the Gaza Strip and is unlikely to work in Lebanon.
And, moreover, that policy has the dangerous side-effect of leaving the initiative for violence in the hands of the enemy.
Israel’s conduct this week has already given Hizballah valuable information: he understands that he can safely continue to upgrade his rocket arsenal.
Israeli army says it uncovers Lebanon’s Hezbollah missile site AFP, Jerusalem/Wednesday, 4 September 2019
The Israeli army said on Tuesday it had exposed a Hezbollah site dedicated to the manufacture of “precision-guided” missiles in Lebanon, just days after a cross-border flare-up between the arch-foes.
“The IDF is exposing a facility belonging to Hezbollah… designed to convert and manufacture precision-guided missiles,” the Israeli army said in a statement. It released what it said was an aerial photograph of the site in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, near the town of Nabi Chit.
The statement comes after the Iran-backed Shiite movement said Sunday its fighters had fired anti-tank missiles into Israel, destroying a military vehicle and killing or wounding those inside.
Israel’s army said it had responded with around 100 artillery shells after Hezbollah targeted a battalion headquarters and military ambulance, hitting both. Israeli officials refuted claims of casualties.
Israel’s army said last week that Iran was collaborating with Hezbollah to convert “stupid rockets into precision-guided missiles,” through a plan to smuggle the required components into Lebanon.
The facility near Nabi Chit was established a few years ago by the Lebanese Shiite movement and its ally Tehran, the Israeli army said on Tuesday. “Lately, various activities to facilitate the manufacture and conversion of precision-guided missiles at the facility have been identified,” it added. Such activities included “the establishment of a dedicated assembly line for precision weapons and the transfer of sensitive and dedicated equipment.”The facility hosted machines designed to manufacture the motors and warheads of missiles “with an accuracy of less than 10 meters,” with Iran supplying special machines and instruction for manufacturing crews, the Israeli army said. It further alleged that Hezbollah had “in fear of strikes, evacuated precious and unique equipment from the compound to civilian locations in Beirut.” Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Monday said his organization would respond to any further Israeli attacks with strikes “deep inside Israel” and not just along the border. For his part, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a cabinet meeting that he was determined to guarantee Israel’s security.
Israel must “prevent Iran from supplying our enemies and its proxies, such as Hezbollah and others, with precision weapons that endanger us,” he said.
