The Ongoing Effort to Cripple Hizbullah and Its Rocket Threat!
(1) Manpower and Weaponry Arsenal of Hizbullah Heading North out of Bint Jubayl while Mil ita
ry Hardware Flies into Israel and Syria!
July 24, 2006
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Hizbullah is making an effort to clear as much of its arsenal out of Bint Jubay as possible before the IDF sweeps in to remove and destroy it. I doubt if a lot will be left when the IDF arrives, and it will be of no huge concern to Hizbullah, because military hardware from Iran has been flowing into Syrian military airfields as fast as Carter makes little liver pills. Syria is having difficulty in smuggling it into Lebanon during the conflict because Israel has knocked out the roads and bridges normally used for transport, but it will eventually trickle into Hizbullah’s hands.
Begin Jerusalem Post Article
IDF Prepares for Raid on Hizbullah’s ‘Terror Capital’
Yaakov Katz, THE JERUSALEM POST
July 23, 2006
Israel geared up to push its military forces deeper into Lebanon late Sunday night as ground troops took up positions outside their new target – the village of Bint Jubayl, branded the Hizbullah’s “terror capital” in southern Lebanon.
Despite sporadic gunbattles throughout the day in
the village of Maroun al-Ras – the scene of heavy fighting last week – the IDF on Sunday dispatched troops to take up positions on the outskirts of Bint Jubayl, a village east of Maroun al-Ras.
IDF sources estimated that Hizbullah had accumulated large quantities of weapons and missiles in the village, which they said would be raided as part of Operation Change of Direction launched July 12, following the abduction of two soldiers in a cross-border Hizbullah attack.
Bint Jubayl, the sources said, had become Hizbullah’s main base of terror operations since Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. The Shi’ite village served as a comfortable and sympa thetic breeding ground,
they said, for the Hizbullah.
Over the weekend however the IDF noticed that a large percentage of the village had begun to move to the north
after IAF fighter jets distributed flyers warning residents there of
the looming IDF raid.
Sources said that only 20 percent of the 20,000 residents in the village remained alongside the Hizbullah fighters.
Meanwhile Sunday, the IDF said it planned to finish razing Hizbullah outposts along the border with Israel by the end of the week. The plan, officials said, was to create a one-km-security zone along the border and into Lebanon that would be off limits to Hizbullah guerillas. The IDF was also considering laying mines in the area.
Head of Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin warned Sunday night that Hizbullah might try to surprise Israel by attempting to kidnap Israeli soldiers or by attacking Israeli institutions abroad. He said that Hizbullah was influenced by Iran and Syria, both of which were enjoying from the current conflict in the North since it drew international pressure away from them.
Yadlin said that in some villages in southern Lebanon, the Hizbullah had hidden rockets which it received from Syria and Iran inside private homes, sometimes building new rooms to house the missiles.
End Jerusalem Post Article
(2) The IDF estimates that Hizbullah would have the capability to continue launching rockets into Israel for a little over a month before their underground storage facilities were emptied.
Begin DEBKAfile Exclusive
DEBKAfile Exclusive: In response to Iranian re-supplies to Hizballah, a US arms airlift began running to Israel Saturday, July 22
July 23, 2006, 3:32 PM (GMT+02:00)
It is carrying fresh stock of bombs, missiles and spare parts for Israeli Air Force aircraft and helicopters. Giant Galaxy C141 transports have been landing, unloading and taking off at short intervals.
DEBKAfile adds: The American airlift to Israel follows the air corridor Iran opened to replenish Hizballah’s stocks on Wednesday, July 19, landing supplies at Syria’s Abu Ad Duhur military airfield north of Homs. The deliveries for Hizballah include large quantities of new missiles, including the long-range Zelzal and Fajr 3 and Fajr 5 missiles, Katyusha rockets, anti-tank and anti-air missiles sent out from the RG HQ in Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf. Some of these missiles can reach Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Thursday, July 21, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander Brig.-Gen Yahya Rahim Safavi assumed command of the Lebanon war from Hizballah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah. RG forward command posts are operating out of Iranian embassies in Beirut and Damascus. Syria has placed its army, Scud missiles and air force in a state of preparedness.
End DEBKAfile Exclusive
(3) The IDF has found the Hizbullah Terror Army a better trained army than they had anticipated. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard units have trained them well, and
the fact that many are willing to fight as martyrs to the death, has made it more difficult for the Israelis.
Begin Haaretz Article 1
IDF expanding presence in south Lebanon, says Hezbollah capable of firing rockets for a month
By Amos Haral, Haaretz, Correspondent, and AP
July 24, 2006
The Israel Defense Forces estimates it has between a week to ten days to continue its offensive in Lebanon before a cease-fire is called suspending its military activity against Hezbollah.
In light of its recent estimation, the IDF is expanding the deployment of its forces in southern Lebanon. Large forces crossed the border Sunday night and the Hezbollah announced that the IDF has taken over the village of Maroun al-Ras, where the two sides fought a tough battle during the past 48 hours.
Meanwhile, IDF soldiers captured two Hezbollah fighters during a battle in south Lebanon, IDF officials said early Monday.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters, had no further details.
The IDF had no immediate comment.
Army Radio reported that the two were the first prisoners Israeli forces have taken in the current offensive.
Also Sunday, Syrian Information Minister Muhsan Bilal warned that Syria will not remain idle if Israel invades Lebanon, explaining that a penetration of southern Lebanon would bring Israeli ground forces within 20 kilometers of Damascus.
At this stage, no IDF ground forces have entered the village of Bint Jbayel. Senior officers told Haaretz Sunday night that the operation is moving “slowly and carefully, under heavy fire, from the air, tanks and artillery, in order to soften up resistance.”
End Haaretz Article 1
Begin Excerpt from Haaretz Article 2
Two killed in rocket strikes on Haifa; city comes under repeated fire
July 24, 2006
Israel Defense Forces officials admitted Sunday that efforts at reducing or preventing Hezbollah rocket
fire have yet to bear fruit.
The IDF believes that unless the pace of the army’s anti-Hezbollah operations in Lebanon is quickened, the Shi’ite group will maintain the capability to lob Katyushas into northern Israel continuously for one month.
Earlier Sunday, Defense Minister Amir Peretz told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Hezbollah operatives have launched close to 2,200 rockets, half of which have struck Israeli towns in the north.
The IDF’s chief of military intelligence, Amos Yadlin, told reporters that a similar number of rockets have been destroyed as a result of IDF raids.
Prior to the outbreak of hostilities, Israeli estimates placed the number of rockets and missiles in Hezbollah’s arsenal at between 10,000 and 12,000.
End Excerpt from Haaretz Article 2
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