Washington and Tel Aviv Trapped Between a Response That Could Ignite War and Silence That Undermines Deterrence / Hezbollah Exposes the Occupation Army’s Lies About the Ground Operation That Only Hagari Saw

 October 02, 2024

The political editor wrote

Two months after the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, spurred by the blood of Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and the growing Israeli savagery in Lebanon, the arrogance of the occupying regime reached new heights. The occupying entity’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted of reshaping the Middle East to Israeli power, even describing the bombing of Al-Hudaydah in Yemen as a message to Iran. In response, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, under the command of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei, executed a decisive strike against the Occupying Entity.

Breaking the silence with 250 hypersonic missiles, Iran scattered them across Palestine like a deadly firestorm. The Occupation Army admitted that 181 missiles reached Palestinian skies, with 85 hitting military targets. According to military sources quoted by Arab media, the strikes destroyed military airports, equipment, radars, and resulted in casualties among soldiers and officers.

The Iranian strike ignited celebrations across Palestine and within the Resistance Axis, while silencing critics who questioned Iran’s commitment to the cause. Washington, caught off guard, tried to downplay the strike. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed it had failed, preparing the ground for urging the Occupying Entity not to retaliate, fearing escalation. Iran, however, issued a stark warning of devastating retaliation if there was any response.

Within the Occupying Entity, reactions varied. Netanyahu threatened Iran with consequences, while Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi spoke of defensive success and waited for the “right time” to showcase offensive power. Israeli-American consultations quickly followed, weighing the dangers of retaliation versus the damage to their deterrence image if they remained silent.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s revitalised resistance launched dozens of missiles at settlements and cities in northern occupied Palestine, including Haifa. Several ballistic missiles also struck military targets near Tel Aviv. Most notably, the resistance preemptively thwarted a much-hyped ground operation by the occupation army, which was revealed to be a fabrication by morning. Hezbollah’s media relations official, Mohammad Afif, dismissed claims made by occupation army’s spokesman Daniel Hagari about a discovery near the border, asserting that the footage was old and unrelated to the previous day’s events.