Israeli Army Turns to Teachers to Plug Shortage

The Israeli media reported the occupation army is resorting to summoning hundreds of school teachers in Israel to serve in its army to address its manpower crisis in light of the acute shortage in the number of soldiers after thousands of them were killed and wounded in the Gaza and Lebanese battles.

The Hebrew Ynet website showed in recent months, the army recruited hundreds of teachers in schools to serve in its ranks and pushed in  repeated rounds of fighting in Gaza and Lebanon.

It added this measure has “put schools in Israel in great distress, leading to the cancellation of classes with schools appearing empty and students not finding anyone to help them.”

It pointed out in an attempt to fill the classes, invitations and appeals have been sent to retired teachers, parents and graduates – to enter the classrooms.

 “A large number of our best teachers have been called up for reserve service, and we are trying to help administrators in their distress, which is why we have turned to retired teachers, parents and school graduates who are willing to dedicate a few hours to replace teachers on the front lines,” Rabbi Rafi Maimon, director of the Amit school network, told Ynet.

“We are facing a major challenge here, and in my opinion, the army must take into account the situation and understand that teachers have a vital role. For more than a year, students have been studying in a shaky reality,” he added.

He pointed out the war on the Lebanese and Gaza fronts exacerbated the IDF’s crisis, due to the severe shortage of manpower and following the heavy losses it suffered in soldiers and officers in the ground battles, which requires the immediate recruitment of thousands of soldiers.

To avoid this predicament, the now-dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Galant had announced the recruitment of 7,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews, starting next week, which threatened to dismantle Benjamin Netanyahu’s government coalition, who was quick to sack him. Galant was replaced by Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, who has no military background.

The Israeli occupation army, supported by the United States and Europe, continues its aggression on the Gaza Strip for the second year, where its warplanes bomb hospitals, buildings, towers and homes of Palestinian civilians and destroy them over the heads of their residents, and prevent the entry of water, food, medicine and fuel.

The Israeli aggression left about 146,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and elderly people, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world according to Jordan24.

Continue reading
Expert: Israel Army Suffers as it Fights on 2 Fronts

Military expert Dr. Nidal Abu Zeid confirmed that the Israeli occupation army has begun to suffer from problems related to ammunition and manpower, as a result of fighting on two fronts simultaneously. He added this contradicts its combat doctrine. 

Abu Zeid added to Jordan24 that the issue of manpower shortage came as a result of the heavy losses suffered by the occupation forces on the southern Lebanon front. 

This is in addition to the fact that only one in three males joins the army plus the fact that 15% of soldiers drop out during military service and do not serve in the reserves while the number of those who obtained exemptions from conscription for medical and psychological reasons has jumped from 4 to 8%, according to figures published by Israeli websites.

Abu Zeid pointed out Hezbollah’s success in bombing the Tzrifin military base, which is 120 kilometers from Lebanon with the Fateh 110 missile, which was used for the first time, is a step that falls within the framework of the equation of proportionality. 

He added the base includes camps for training and military education and headquarters for senior officers in the artillery and communications corps and the military unit affiliated with the spokesman for the occupation army. Unit 108, which specializes in maintaining electronic and technical systems and equipment in the air force of the occupation army, also operates in the base.

Regarding the developments in the Gaza Strip, Abu Zeid pointed out that the occupation army withdrew its 252 Reserve Division, which was deployed in two brigades in the Netzarim axis, and returned its 99 Infantry Division (reserve) to the Netzarim axis, which indicates that the occupation no longer has the luxury of military options.

He added that so the Israeli army is returning the divisions it withdrew from months ago to the same combat axes after restoring some of its losses, and this is something that has operational caveats as it ultimately leads to the construction of fragile military units and leads to the soldiers losing their fighting spirit, which explains the low level of combat operations in the Gaza Strip.

Continue reading
Katz: Hardened Loyalist in Netanyahu’s Pocket

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in the middle of a war slaughter on Gaza and south Lebanon. This is regarded as an unprecedented move especially during wartime.

He cites a “crisis of trust,” between the two men that has brewing long before the war after 7 October, 2023.

Netanyahu finally took the plunge and appointed in his place, Israel Katz amid public outrage within the occupation state and increasing involvement in war crimes in Palestine and Lebanon.

Israel Katz has stepped up and previously served as Israel’s Foreign Minister and was formerly criticized as being weak and ineffectual. But maybe this is what Netanyahu wants for Katz is already a hardened “Bibi supporters” who can obviously be controlled.

Continue reading
Duwairi: Hezbollah and Its Battle Management Versus Israel

Military expert Major-General Fayez Al-Duwairi said Hezbollah regained its political balance after it revamped its tactical and operational balance a few weeks ago at the level of managing the battle with Israel. He pointed to the party’s dual employment of its qualitative missiles on the horizontal and vertical levels.

Al-Duwairi explained on Al Jazeera Hezbollah’s Nasr and Aziz units are responsible for managing the defensive battle efficiently in the area south of the Litani River.

The Litani River extends 170 kilometers from its source in the east to its mouth in the west, and is about 30 kilometers from the Lebanese-Israeli border.

The strategic expert explained this party wanted to reveal the Imad 5 facility “to present a specific vision regarding the employment of qualitative missiles”, which he considered as “a translation of restoring the balance”.

Hezbollah’s war media section published a video clip, Sunday evening, showing a missile launch facility called Imad 5, which included missile launchers and equipment inside an underground military facility.

The military expert warned of what he called “Hezbollah’s dual use of missile power”, as it sometimes resorts to direct missile targeting, and sometimes launches missiles to serve another military approach.

Missile barrages

According to Al-Duwairi, Hezbollah resorts to launching missile barrages that coincide with or slightly precede its drones, as the Iron Dome radars pick up the missile signal and focuses on it, while the drones penetrate deep into Israel, sometimes reaching up to 150 kilometers.

Hezbollah’s drones have become an obsession for the Israeli army with Al-Duwairi saying the party focuses on “the evening barrage launch to paralyze the widest possible geographical area of ​​Israel and force about two million people to enter the underground shelters.”

Hezbollah recently begun a horizontal escalation consisting of launching 100 rockets per day, in addition to a vertical escalation through the use of rockets it never used before, the military expert said.

Duwairi added Hezbollah’s qualitative rockets are evident through their range, accuracy, and ability to reach the target, noting the party has “a bank of targets arranged according to priorities in terms of the impact of these targets on the course of the battle and Israel.”

For these reasons, the party is focusing on Israeli military bases and the facilities that serve them, such as technical and military industries and weapons depots, in addition to economic facilities.

Hezbollah has been focusing in recent days on targeting the Glilot base of the 8200 Military Intelligence Unit in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, and the Palmachim Air Base (south of Tel Aviv).

It is also focusing on the Shraga and Sanat Gen logistics bases north of Acre, in addition to the Misgav base (northeast of Haifa), the Ramat David base and airport (southeast of Haifa), and the Zevulun military industries base (north of Haifa).

However, the military expert adds “Hezbollah is very cautious and does not want to go too far in its policy of targeting Haifa versus the southern suburbs of Beirut” for fear of a corresponding Israeli overreach.

Al-Duwairi explained Hezbollah is bombing military targets in return for an Israeli targeting of the party’s social infrastructure and incubator.

He explains the party cannot defeat the Israeli army in a conventional war, but “just by its survival and ability to withstand, and prevent Israel from achieving its goals and deterring it, it is considered victorious.”

Since 23 September, Israel has expanded its war on Hezbollah to include most areas of Lebanon, including the capital Beirut, through unprecedentedly violent and intense air strikes, and it has also begun a ground incursion in the south, relying on five military divisions operating along the border with Lebanon.

Continue reading
UN Appeals to Israel to Leave Lebanon’s Cultural Sites Alone

The UN urged the protection of cultural heritage sites on Wednesday after reported Israeli airstrikes on Baalbek in eastern Lebanon. 

“Clearly, we do not want to see any harm, tend to people and also to the cultural heritage,” spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference.

“I think one of the things we’ve seen in conflicts in recent years is the destruction of cultural heritage that can never be replaced,” he added according to Anadolu.

His remarks came in response to a question on the situation in Lebanon after a new wave of Israeli airstrikes near Baalbek, which reportedly killed 30 people.

An important urban center in the Bekaa Valley, Baalbek is famed for its towering Roman ruins. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to more than 100,000 residents.

Previous Israeli airstrikes in Douris have destroyed ancient sites.

Israel last month launched a massive air campaign in Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets in an escalation in a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and the group since the start of Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip.

More than 2,700 people have been killed and nearly 12,500 injured in Israeli attacks since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Israel expanded the conflict by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.

Continue reading