It is difficult not to agree with the Jerusalem Post newspaper according to which: Israel is on the brink of an all-out war with Hezbollah. On September 17, starting at 3:00 pm, explosions from Hezbollah pagers were reported on social media. Over 100 people were hit, all of them connected to Hezbollah’s direct line, at least 10 dead, the most affected area is Dahiyeh, Beirut.
That something important was brewing on Israel’s part against Hezbollah was understood from the night between September 16 and 17, when, at the end of the War Cabinet, the official statement sounded like this: “The Israeli War Cabinet has just finished its meeting at Kirya, the IDF command headquarters in Tel Aviv. The conclusion: a new target has been officially added to the war; “to return the citizens to their homes in the North by any means necessary.”
September 17 was a day of political tension that postponed the firing of Yoav Gallant for security reasons. A new batch of Israeli tanks arrived on the northern front near the Lebanese border. In an alarming change of tone and statement, Israel abandons the path of possible diplomacy until the end of the battle in Lebanon.
Israeli Defense Minister Gallant met with US Presidential envoy Amos Hochstein and announced: “The only way left to return the residents of the North to their homes is military action.” This coincides with yesterday’s news that Netanyahu is planning to approve a battle plan inside Lebanon and the willingness to carry out a ground invasion.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid at the end of a meeting with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the White House: “We are approaching a vicious war with Hezbollah that threatens much of Israel. Anyone who can prevent it should invest every effort to do so.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Presidential Special Envoy Amos Hochstein at Tel Aviv’s Kirya. In a statement, his office said Netanyahu made it clear in his conversation with Envoy Hochstein that “it will not be possible to return our residents without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north.”
The Israeli prime minister also said that Israel appreciates and respects American support, but will ultimately do what is necessary to maintain its security and return northern residents to their homes safely.
Israeli media reported that the commander of the army’s Northern Command and the commander of the air force discussed the process of increasing combat readiness in Lebanon.
According to Channel 13: “Netanyahu held a series of talks with leaders of coalition parties to obtain approval to move forward with expanding the battle in Lebanon.
Political discussions continued into the afternoon of September 17: “Defense Minister Gallant and top security officials are holding intensive security consultations today as well. In recent days, a series of discussions on activities in Lebanon around the clock.” Kann, a left-wing anti-Likud outlet, reported.
Yedioth Aharonot, a centrist anti-Likud outlet, wrote: “In Lebanon, they estimate that we are on the eve of an Israeli invasion of Lebanon in an all-out war against Hezbollah.”
The Shin Bet claims that Hezbollah is responsible for planning the assassination attempt against General Aviv Kochavi, the IDF chief of staff from 2019 to 2023. The explosive was found before it detonated.
This is supposedly the excuse for the Israeli security establishment that Israel’s political leadership will use this foiled attempt as a casus belli to initiate an invasion of Lebanon.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has not ruled out forming a coalition with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi: “The conduct of negotiations on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly depends on the existing conditions. We are ready to start negotiations and the tasks of the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs for Political and International Affairs have been assigned. Yemen has become one of the main weapons of the Axis of Resistance and plays a leading role in supporting the Gaza Strip. Yemen has military technology and a strategic arsenal of weapons and decides how and when to use them. The accusations of sending missiles from Iran to Yemen are an insult to the Yemeni people.”
Iranian-backed militias in Iraq say they attacked a target in the Jordan Valley with a drone this morning.
Yemen’s Ansarullah has released footage of the launch of the hypersonic missile “Palestine-2” toward Israel. The missile looks and sounds like the Yemeni national variant of Iran’s Kheybar Shekan-2.
And now a look at the Israel – Hamas – Hezbollah fronts updated at 16:00 on September 17.
During the night of September 16, the following were reported: air strike reported in Odaiseh, which targeted a civilian home. The Israeli military has released footage of its recent airstrikes in southern Lebanon, targeting civilian homes in villages including Teir Harfa and Kafarshouba; Israeli airstrikes targeted the village of Taybeh and again in Hula and Blida, for the second time in a day.
In the afternoon, reports of airstrikes in southern Lebanon in Ayta ash-Shab, southern Lebanon. Starting at 3:00 PM there was a flurry of reports of pager explosions in Dahiyeh, Beirut. There were later reports that this event was not limited to Dahiyeh, but occurred all over Lebanon, as Hezbollah radios, cell phones and pagers exploded simultaneously.
More than 100 casualties have been reported, including deaths and injuries. Lebanese media are reporting that Israel was able to “hack” the pagers and portable radios that Hezbollah uses for internal communications, causing the batteries to explode, simultaneously killing and wounding several Hezbollah members.
70 confirmed injuries in hospitals in Beirut city alone, blood shortages reported in the city. Second wave of explosions. The massive explosions in Lebanon have been classified as a mass casualty event, trauma wards have been opened all over Beirut. This is likely the first wave of attacks in Lebanon: Eyes Gouged Out and Hezbollah’s ears before the initial assault.
As of 3:30 p.m., “Beirut’s hospitals are now completely full.” Israel has confirmed it conducted a large-scale cyber attack, blowing up pagers Hezbollah uses to communicate.
An anonymous Hezbollah official told Reuters: “This is the biggest breach of intelligence.” Third wave of explosions in Dahiyeh, Beirut. Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon. Hospitals across Lebanon have called for blood donations – al-Arabiya, Saudi media. Al Arabiya reports 1,000 wounded against Hezbollah members across Lebanon. As of 16:00 the number of wounded has reached 1,200, some sources say 1,500, according to initial reports, these are Hezbollah members wounded in Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Beqaa, southern Lebanon and even in Syria. The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon was also wounded because he was in possession of a pager. The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported 8 dead and 2,800 injured in the evening. As we close the article, Israeli reservists have received “Order 8” from the Northern Command, Yedioth Ahronoth source. Order 8 is an emergency order to report immediately to their base to deployment.
Hezbollah struck an Israeli military vehicle on the road between Ruwaisat al-Alam and Zebdin in the Kfar Shuba mountains. Late afternoon on the 16th: Islamic Resistance targeted Israeli soldiers’ deployment near Metat barracks with rockets; Ruweisat Al-Alam site in the occupied Lebanese hills of Kfar Shuba was hit with machine guns. Al-Samaqa site in the occupied Lebanese hills of Kfar Shuba was targeted with rockets; Ramim barracks were bombed with a volley of Katyusha rockets; Ramot Naftali barracks were bombed with a volley of Katyusha rockets; buildings used by Israeli soldiers in Al-Metula settlement were hit; Israeli soldiers in Bayyad Blida were hit; Ramya was attacked with guided missiles.
On September 17, Northern Israel was on red alert due to drone infiltration (direction Ramot Naftali). Drones launched from Lebanon were detected over the settlement of Ramot Naftali, causing alarm in the region.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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