Invading Israel

An IDF entry point to a Hezbollah tunnel from Lebanon (Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images)

 

Iran’s war against Israel is heating up rapidly: Iran is moving beyond threats and mobilizing for hostilities.

Jerusalem—On Nov. 13, 2018, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was on the edge of collapse. In one 25-hour period, the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hamas launched over 400 rockets, missiles and mortars into Israel from the Gaza Strip. It was the largest single-day barrage ever. For those Israelis within range of the missiles, it was the last straw. I spoke to Israelis who experienced the attacks, and most of them emphasized the need to push back against Hamas to stop the incessant fire. Living under the constant threat of war and the stress of having less than 10 seconds to get to a bomb shelter is clearly taking a toll.

As Gaza front cools, Iran and Syria move on their next flashpoint – Quneitra

 

Hours after the Palestinians paused on Wednesday, May 30, in their broadest rocket/mortar assault on Israel in four years, their Iranian backers were already moving on the Golan. Under cover of the deafening Gaza clash, Iran, Syria and Hizballah began marching military units on the road to Quneitra opposite Israel’s Golan border.

The Indirect Iran-Israel War Has Become More Direct

 

‘Iran is now sufficiently emboldened as to directly attack Israel.’

On February 10, an Israeli Army helicopter shot down an Iranian drone that had penetrated Israeli airspace from Syria. With that, a new, dangerous period began in the decades-old war between Israel and Iran. But just how dangerous it was remained largely unclear until the Israeli military allowed the media to report more about it two months later on April 13.

Until February 10, Iran had always attacked Israel via its terrorist proxy entities. But on that day, the world’s foremost state sponsor of terror proved ready and willing to directly send forces against Israel.

Mattis: Iran-Israel clash is close, but US military focus shifts out of Syria to Iraq

 

The US will relocate its military operations to Iraq and the Mediterranean, after drawing down its troops in Syria, Defense Secretary James Mattis disclosed to Congress on Thursday, April 26.

His comments were enigmatic: “Right now we are not withdrawing US troops from Syria,” Mattis said. “You’ll see increased operations on the Iraqi side of the border and the French just reinforced us in Syria with special forces here in the last two weeks. This is an ongoing fight right now,” he said.But what did he mean?US sources explain that while Washington is committed to fighting Islamic State terrorists, a US troop presence in Syria is not essential and the war can be fought from outside, e.g., Iraq.

Iran heats war rhetoric to cover up military buildup in Syria

Tension between Tehran and Jerusalem has been high since April 9, when an Israel air strike knocked out a Revolutionary Guards air force command center at the Syrian T-4 air base. But, apart from blistering threats of retaliation, Iran has none nothing. Israel celebrated its Independence Day under clear skies, although the following day, Friday, April 20, the Guards deputy commander Gen. Hossein Salami warned that Iran’s hand “was on the trigger of its missiles” and Israel’s air bases were “within reach.” But Tehran sees an opportunity for taking a high tone against Israel following three developments:

Iran already has 13 bases in Syria and tens of thousands of troops. Is their removal realistic?

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman again warned Wednesday, Nov. 15, that Israel would not permit Iran to establish a military presence in Syria, and the skeptics would soon discover this. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israel reserves its freedom of military action in Syria to defend its borders.

Ignoring empty threats, Iran tightens its military noose around Israel

Hamas’ Saleh Arouri in Tehran.

 

Iran pressed ahead with its plans this week, regardless of the loud scorn and threats poured on Tehran from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Cairo and Washington.

On Friday, Oct. 20, less than two weeks after Saleh Arouri, Deputy Chief of the Hamas political bureau, approved an Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation agreement between his party and the rival Fatah, he was leading a large Hamas delegation to Tehran.

Israeli Defense Minister: Next Gaza war will be the last

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman: “The next war in Gaza will be the last.” He said this in an interview with the Palestinian East Jerusalem paper Al Quds to be published Monday. He also reiterated his view that the solution of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute should be based on two states with major land and population swaps between them and the settlement blocs remaining in place under Israeli control. 

UAE ‘offered to fund Israel’s Gaza offensive’

DOHA: The UAE knew in advance of Israel’s plans for an offensive in Gaza and even offered to fund the operation provided the militant Palestinian outfit Hamas was eliminated in the process, Israel’s Channel 2 claimed in a recent report, according to local Arabic daily Al Sharq. The daily says in a report published today that Israel’s leading national TV station (Channel 2 in Hebrew) disclosed details of secret parleys between the UAE’s foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, in Paris at the end of last month.

Kick Me: European Union Backs Iran’s Hezbollah

The Lebanon-based Islamic organization Hezbollah is one of the most dangerous groups in the world. Recently, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah incited violence against American and European interests over the movie The Innocence of Muslims. And yet, the European Union refuses to follow America’s example and classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization – a move that would enable the EU to freeze the group’s assets in Europe.

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This does not come as a surprise, considering the EU’s earlier refusal to condemn Hezbollah for terrorism. Last July, Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited the EU capital, Brussels, to persuade the EU to follow America’s example and classify Hezbollah a terrorist organization. Lieberman met with resistance – a lot. He was attempting to isolate Hezbollah after the July 18 suicide bombing at the airport of the Bulgarian coastal resort of Burgas – an attack, and clearly a terrorist one – in which five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver were killed.

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France is one of the countries that oppose the efforts to blacklist Hezbollah. France, the former colonial power in Lebanon, wants to preserve its diplomatic influence in that country. In 2011, Najib Mikati, a Hezbollah-backed politician, became Prime Minister of Lebanon after Hezbollah toppled the previous government. Even deadly attacks by Hezbollah on French nationals have not persuaded the French government to designate the group as terrorist. Last year, Alain Juppé, the then Foreign Minister of France, accused Hezbollah of attacking French U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon. However, with Hezbollah constituting part of the Lebanese establishment, the French are reluctant to act against it.

The German government, too, refuses to draw the obvious conclusion regarding Hezbollah, although the German domestic intelligence agency, the Bundesverfassungsschutz, has warned that Hezbollah has over 900 active members in Germany. In 2008, the German Interior Ministry restricted the reception of the programs of the Hezbollah television station Al-Manar in German hotels. Al-Manar is used by Hezbollah to recruit terrorists and communicate with sleeper cells around the globe.

Full article: Kick Me: European Union Backs Iran’s Hezbollah (Gatestone Institute)