‘Stop The Bombs’ – Anti-explosives NGO

The International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW) is deeply concerned over the increased airstrikes in towns and cities in Lebanon, as well as the rocket attacks launched against Israel.

This devastating escalation in hostilities is causing extensive suffering and harm to civilians. INEW calls on both Israel and Hezbollah to immediately stop the use of heavy explosive weapons in populated areas due to the high risk of harm to civilians, including death and injury as well as devastating humanitarian consequences due to displacement, destruction of housing and damage to critical infrastructure.

Israel’s aerial bombardment in Lebanon is one of the heaviest air raids in contemporary armed conflict. On 23 September, the Israeli military struck 1,600 targets in airstrikes in 41 towns and cities in Lebanon, according to Israeli military officials. These attacks reportedly killed nearly 600 people, including 50 children, while 1,700 have been injured, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. The death toll will continue to rise as it is assumed that people remain trapped under rubble. As bombardment intensifies, tens of thousands of people have fled their communities to find refuge elsewhere. National authorities have reported that more than 90,000 people have been newly displaced.

These attacks come in the wake of escalation from the Israeli-Palestine conflict where over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed and 95,000 injured in the Gaza Strip between 7 October, 2023 and 23 September, 2024, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The use of explosive weapons in populated areas is the one of leading causes of harm to civilians in armed conflict worldwide. Civilians are killed and injured, with many experiencing life-changing injuries and yet more suffering severe psychological harm and distress. Damage and destruction of vital infrastructure including housing, hospitals and schools causes further harm. Unexploded ordnance poses an ongoing threat to civilians during and long after hostilities have ended, impeding the safe return of refugees and displaced persons.

Israel and Lebanon should join the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas and take steps to immediately implement its commitments, including restricting and refraining from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas when such use is expected to cause harm to civilians and civilian objects.

INEW calls on the 87 states that have endorsed the Political Declaration to make good on their undertaking to “actively promote the Declaration” and to “seek adherence to its commitments” by the parties to the conflict. States that have joined the Political Declaration have done so in recognition of the devastating humanitarian impact that takes place when such use occurs.

Additionally, they have also committed to take action to address civilian harm, including through public statements, as a means to strengthen the protection of civilians, as well as urging to parties to conflict to restrict or refrain from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, in order to promote the norms and standards that the Declaration seeks to establish.

Action by endorser states to promote the Declaration, and at this time in particular, is vitally needed action to better protect civilians from the effects of explosive weapons and armed conflict.

Reliefweb

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Duwairi: Hezbollah Able to Manage The Battle

Military expert Retired Major General Fayez al-Duwairi said Hezbollah is still able to manage the defensive battle effectively and powerfully despite the Israeli onslaught which have not undermined its combat capabilities.

Duwairi explained Hezbollah, Thursday, launched five large missile barrages despite the intensive Israeli air campaign and assassinations that targeted prominent military leaders, including Fouad Shukr and Ibrahim Aqil, and the bombing of pagers and walkie-talkies.

According to the strategic expert, the combat organizations that are fighting an asymmetric war with a regular Israeli army that has great capabilities “have in their calculations, to be exposed to painful strikes that may abort their combat power if they move to the traditional approach.”

Accordingly, there are fixed instructions for the fighters that at some point communications may be lost and the chain of command may be struck through concentrated assassinations, “but this does not mean the collapse of the combat power, as planning is centralized but implementation is decentralized,” he added on Al Jazeera.

The military expert touched on the combat capabilities possessed by Hezbollah, most notably its missile capabilities and their impact on Israel, in addition to artillery, drones, and field forces deployed in the south, central Bekaa, and Hermel, and the the Radwan Force, designed to carry out operations inside occupied Palestine.

Hezbollah’s missile force ranges between 100,000 and 200,000 missiles, 80% of which are unguided, according to Al-Duwairi who said that the party has not yet deployed medium- and long-range missiles.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considers what Israel achieved, so far, in terms of preemptive strikes, intensive assassinations, and bombings of communications and wireless devices are “military achievements that may disappear if he enters a ground war,” Al-Duwairi pointed out.

The military expert added that Hezbollah – 18 years after the 2006 war – has a large presence in southern Lebanon, and succeeded in harnessing the geographical turrain of the area to serve its defensive plan, noting it focuses on controlling combat nodes and target bank.

He concluded the entry of the Israeli occupation army into southern Lebanon “will not be a summer outing,” noting Israel’s strikes have targeted Hezbollah’s capabilities and its incubating environment, so far, “so the party is walking a tightrope between maintaining deterrence and not being dragged into a ground war.”

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Duwairi: Israel Not in Position For ‘Ground War’

Military expert Major-General Fayez Al-Duwairi said the Lebanese Hezbollah’s bombing of the Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv is a qualitative but a disciplined shift so that things do not develop into a large-scale ground battle both sides are trying to avoid so far.

Earlier Wednesday, Hezbollah announced targeting the Mossad headquarters in the suburbs of Tel Aviv with a “Qader I” ballistic missile, in a precedent move since the beginning of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip about a year ago.

The party stated it targeted Mossad headquarters because it “is responsible for assassinating leaders and blowing up communication devices.”

According to Al-Duwairi, the party did not target Tel Aviv directly but rather targeted a military headquarters responsible for blowing up the pagers, which means it is an operation similar to the assassinations carried out by Israel in the Beirut suburb.

Therefore, he believes that the targetting does not mean bringing Tel Aviv into the unfolding battle, saying current Israel’s operations in Lebanon do not aim to destroy the suburb randomly. He added this reflects the keenness of both parties not to escalate in a way that leads to an open ground war, even if the comprehensive war is already underway.

No ground war yet

He explained the ground operation is the missing part of the comprehensive war between the two sides, suggesting Israel will continue to maintain this situation for another period in the hope of breaking Hezbollah’s will and subjecting it to its dictates.

He said Israel is using the Gaza Strip approach in Lebanon, but warned that the military solution will not be achieved and that Hezbollah will not retreat beyond the Litani River as Israel wants.

Al-Duwairi described Hezbollah’s operations as a war of pressure on the Israeli economy and society and not a war of attrition, noting the latter is based on targeting the civilian and military dimensions and that will only be completed through a ground confrontation.

He expected that a ground war would only break out if Netanyahu felt that the current pressure would not force Hezbollah to retreat. However, he pointed out that Israel previously remained in the Litani area for 20 years and was forced to leave due to the Lebanese resistance.

Hezbollah must rely on itself

He said the situation in southern Lebanon is completely different from Gaza, noting that Hezbollah will not deploy its forces on every square meter but will rely on the combat contracts that will grant it the desired victory in the end, because a ground confrontation means great losses for the occupation army.

Regarding Hezbollah’s strengths in a ground war, Al-Duwairi said they are represented in its ability to manage the battle and activate the unity of the arenas in Yemen and Iraq in an effective manner and not symbolically as is the case now according to Al Jazeera.

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Israel: Lies, Lies and More Lies

Kamal Mirza

Lies, lies, and more lies: This was the enemy’s policy since the first day of the systematic Zionist-American war of extermination and displacement that followed the launch of the Al-Aqsa Flood battle at the hands of the heroes of the Palestinian resistance.

The problem now is that Israel is trying to exploit the three successive security breaches it was able to achieve – pager and walkie-talkie – bombings and the assassination of the Radwan leaders, to lend credibility to the lies it promoted since it decided to transfer the weight of military operations to the northern front.

Among these lies are Israel broadcasts, and which the media unfortunately picks up on as they are and republished and circulated among its people, and its claims it has succeeded in bombing thousands of missile launch pads in southern Lebanon through the intensive raids its warplanes made in the past 48 hours.

Such news, despite its brevity, and a large number, aim to create the following:

First, create the impression the Zionist entity has full knowledge of all of the sites, fortifications and fortifications of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. But how could it not know when it penetrated the party’s communications system, read them as an open book, and was capable of targeting and eliminating them at a blink of an eye!

Second, spread a spirit of defeat, despair and hopelessness among the people that Hezbollah is losing its capabilities, components and potential at a rapid pace, and the issue will not take more than a “sip of coffee” before the party collapses and finds itself defeated and unable to harm even a mosquito’s wing.

Third, and most importantly – the result of the two previous points – and that is blackmailing Hezbollah into abandoning its wisdom, prudence and balance in managing the battle, and make a hasty reaction matching the Zionist attacks to prove to its supporters and masses it is still fine, and maintain its strength and resolve, and then be dragged into an open confrontation by further shuffling the cards, and involving everyone in a regional war.

This is the basis of what Benjamin Netanyahu and his war gang aspire to and wish for to get out of their predicament, and evade their inability to achieve any of the war goals, whether the declared goals or undeclared ones with the first including returning the prisoners in Gaza, eliminate the capabilities of the resistance and returning the settlers in the Gaza envelope and the north to their settlements.

Their hidden goals include reoccupying Gaza, West Bank and annexing them, displacing the Palestinians (1948 Palestinians included), and create a pretext and favorable circumstances to target and destroy the Iranian nuclear facilities before it is able to manufacture its first nuclear bomb.

However, Israel’s insistence on beating the drums of war, and forcing it down the throat of Hezbollah and everyone else, through media propaganda and bullying all suggests the despair of someone who feels the noose tightening around his neck and/or about to drown!

Of course, the wise tactic for Hezbollah is to maintain the pace and rhythm for the confrontation, and to escalate within the limits it wants, while preserving the theme of attrition, long breath, concentration of effort, and careful selection of targets it has followed and established since day 1 and not to allow the enemy to lure it in and impose on its own pace and rhythm for the confrontation!

The paradox here, is there are those who still insist on believing the Israel entity just because they want to, despite knowing it is a liar, deceiver and a charlatan. Among its lies is its insistence on concealing its real human and material losses and denying them.

And these people insist on doubting Hezbollah and the resistance factions, even though they have proved their honesty every time, whether in their admission of losses and setbacks, in the information and circumstances they provide about the course of events, or in the promises and commitments to themselves as spelt out by Mr Hassan Nasrallah that the northern warfront will not stop unless an agreement is reached in Gaza acceptable to the Palestinian resistance.

What is also surprising for those “Zionist lovers”, or those imbibed with the entity in their hearts, and/or who have been filled with terror from it.. is their insistence on ignoring and overlooking three basic facts:

First, if the support front Hezbollah opened and managed did not truly harm the Zionist enemy, drain it, prevent it from achieving its goals, and a decisive factor in deterring and defeating it.. Israel would not have been concerned with all this escalation in Lebanon while it is drowning and stuck on the Gaza and West Bank fronts.

Second, if Hezbollah wanted to twist and turn, broker and scheme at the expense of the rest of the resistance factions and the unity of arenas, the party could have in the last 11 months been in a negotiating position to obtain enormous temptations and gains the Arab countries of collusion and the party haters would never have dreamt of!

Third, Israel abandoned its farcical utterings at the beginning of the war that it would return Lebanon to the Stone Age, and eliminate Hezbollah’s capabilities and force it to retreat beyond the Litani River. Israel’s now declared goal in the north has been limited to return its residents only to “point zero” as was the case before the war.

In this goal there is an implicit bribe for Hezbollah: “Just give us this modest goal and we will stop the war and the targeting on our part.” This is once again an indication of the extent of Israel’s predicament and crisis, despite its apparent arrogance, bullying and its endless stream of lies!

This is a translated piece from Arabic by Kamal Mirza printed in the Jordan24 website.

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War Heats up as Hezbollah Trade Attacks With Israel

Hezbollah announced, Sunday morning, it  bombed an Israeli military industries complex in northern Haifa with dozens of rockets in an initial response to the pager and wireless explosions.

A party statement indicated it bombed “the military industries complexes of the Rafael Company, which specializes in electronic means and equipment, and is located in the Zevulun area north of Haifa, with dozens of Fadi 1, Fadi 2, and Katyusha rockets.”

Hezbollah rockets

Hezbollah had earlier announced at dawn, Sunday, it targeted the Ramat David base and airport for the second time with dozens of rockets.

In a statement it stated it “announces, for the second time in two hours, it targeted the Ramat David base and airport with dozens of Fadi 1 and Fadi 2 rockets, in response to the repeated Israeli attacks that targeted various Lebanese regions and led to the deaths of many civilian martyrs.”

In contrast, the Israeli army announced in the past hours, Hezbollah launched about 115 “air threats” towards northern Israel, adding firefighting teams were working to extinguish the fires that broke out as a result.

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that about 120 rockets were fired from Lebanon on Saturday night.

The Israeli Channel 13 reported Hezbollah focused on security and economic sites and facilities, and there was damage, especially in the Haifa and Kiryot areas, for the first time since August 2006.

Israel Today reported the army estimates that Hezbollah will continue to fire rockets in the coming days without expanding the scope of the targeting.

Injuries and fires

The Israeli Ambulance Service, Magen David Adom reported four people were injured by shrapnel from rockets fired by Hezbollah at the city of Haifa.

Meanwhile, three Israelis were injured near the city of Kiryot, and a number of people were injured as a result of several rockets falling in the occupied southern Golan Heights, according to the Israeli Walla website.

The Maariv newspaper quoted the Israeli ambulance as saying that there was one injury in the Lower Galilee as a result of Hezbollah rockets, while it reported that there were no injuries as a result of the shelling of the areas of Yokneam, Afula, and the Ramat David base.

On the other hand, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that some residents of the Kiryat Tiv’on settlement said that the shelters they tried to hide in were closed.

Israel Hayom reported firefighting teams were working to put out a fire that broke out near Migdal HaEmek, most likely caused by interceptor missile fragments. The Marj Bin Amer Regional Council also said that a missile fell and caused a fire in the area between Kfar Rauch and Yokneam.

Lebanon bombing

On the other hand, Channel 12 reported that Israeli warplanes have launched raids on sites in the Majdal Zun area in Lebanon.

The Israeli army said that the strikes will continue and increase in intensity against Hezbollah.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported that Israeli raids targeted the vicinity of the town of Yatar and the area of ​​the Nabaa al-Tasa stream in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli raids also targeted the towns of Aitaroun, Taybeh, Zebqin, the town of Khiam, and the vicinity of the town of Zrarieh in southern Lebanon.

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