After a week of heavy blows dealt by the IDF to Hezbollah, the terror organization tried to raise its head and respond, as several dozen rockets were launched toward northern Israel last night (Saturday night). The rockets were aimed further south than usual, mainly towards the Nazareth and Jezreel Valley area, seemingly targeting specifically the Ramat David Air Force base, which oversees the region. However, it appears that Hezbollah’s attack was thwarted for now by Israel’s interception systems, particularly the Iron Dome, and most of the missiles and rockets were destroyed in the air. So far, it seems that the damage is limited to a few injuries, fires near Migdal HaEmek caused by interception debris, and loss of sleep for the northern residents who had to wake up due to the alarms.
In recent days, the IDF has dealt Hezbollah several deadly blows: first, the explosion of beepers on Tuesday, which led to thousands of injured operatives; the following day, on Wednesday, communication devices were blown up, injuring and killing hundreds more. On Friday, a building in Beirut’s Dahieh district was bombed in a precise strike, killing 15 senior Hezbollah officials, including Ibrahim Aqil, Nasrallah’s right-hand man and the de facto leader of the organization’s military wing, along with the entire top command of the Radwan Force, Hezbollah’s special units intended to invade Israel. On Saturday, hundreds of airstrikes were carried out by the Israeli Air Force against Hezbollah launchers and rocket launch sites, in an effort to thwart a retaliatory attack on Israel.
What is the purpose of these strikes, and what is Israel’s strategy? It seems that this is not preparation for a ground invasion of Lebanon, since in such a case, the actions would be carried out simultaneously, and the IDF would have already begun the invasion; rather, it is likely an attempt to bend Nasrallah’s hand and force him to declare an end to the war and disengage from the Gaza front, allowing northern residents to return home. This can be likened to the process of the Exodus from Egypt, where the IDF is striking Nasrallah-Pharaoh with one blow after another, aiming to soften his hard heart.
