Hezbollah: Israel’s New Nightmare!

• CrossFireArabia
• April 4, 2026

By Abdel Bari Atwan

We do not dispute the official and popular Iranian resistance narrative and use by its military leadership of hypersonic missiles with cluster warheads weighing between one and two tons, and which penetrated most of Israel’s air defenses and destroyed its targets in the occupied Palestinian cities (Israel) in the first five weeks. These were one of the most prominent surprises of the current American-Israeli war on Iran.

However, the biggest and most unexpected surprise for many, both for Israel and the Arab environment, is this powerful resurgence of Hezbollah in Lebanon, its military wing, formidable missile and drone capabilities, and the highly efficient management of the ongoing battle by its “hawkish” leadership. This is constituting a powerful shock to the Israeli enemy, official Lebanese authorities, and the Americans.

The Hezbollah Party’s military wing, led by a young command trained in North Korea and China in the latest guerrilla warfare tactics, is waging the war with high efficiency, overseeing the launch of more than 200 rockets and drones daily. Most of these reach their targets in the Greater Tel Aviv area, much of whose cities now destroyed, and Haifa and its bay, reduced to a blazing inferno. The Hezbollah missiles are targetting settlements in the Upper and Lower Galilee, most notably Kiryat Shmona, which has become a ghost town.

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Hezbollah deceived all of its adversaries, inside and outside Lebanon, remaining steadfast, feigning restraint and flexibility, and avoiding confrontation with the state by all means. It never responded neither to the clamorous voices predicting its demise and political and military exit from the scene, nor to the killing of some of its new leaders, even after the “Pagers War” or to the provocative Israeli violations of the ceasefire, which exceeded 10,000 over the past 16 months. This was because its priorities focused on internal restructuring and rebuilding its missile and drone industries to achieve military self-sufficiency for the current major confrontation.

Data from trusted sources confirm that the party currently possesses more than 30,000 short- and medium-range missiles, thousands of Shahed and Hudhud drones, and more than one 100,000 fighters, most of whom are young men under the age of thirty.

The party’s success and precision of its missiles in exhausting the Israeli enemy and its forces and emptying the occupied Galilee of all its settlers who fled to central and southern Israel seeking safety and security, restored its prestige and broadened its popularity, both within its Shiite base and among many members of other sects, especially young people, as well as in the wider Arab and Islamic worlds.

Hezbollah destroyed at least 40 Israeli Merkava tanks, killed more than 35 Israeli soldiers, and wounded 80 others since entering the war on 4 March. This number of casualties, by the Israeli enemy’s own admission, is the same as their numbers during the 12-day war last June.

We do not believe the Israeli leaks circulated by some Lebanese circles, whether in their media outlets and/ or on social media platforms, claiming the existence of three wings within Hezbollah: First, the moderate wing, which wants to avoid confrontation with the state; second, the “doves,” who do not object to linking disarmament to Israeli withdrawal and reconstruction; and third, the “hawks,” united behind its military leadership, which believes in the option of resistance, maintaining and developing weapons until the liberation of all Lebanese and Arab lands.

The upper hand now belongs to the “hawks,” around whom everyone rallies, and who have absolutely no trust in the capitulating state, nor in America and the Western world in general, who have starved the Lebanese people, supported the Israeli occupation and all its crimes in displacing more than 1 million Lebanese from the south, seized the border strip south of the Litani River, and whose planes have not ceased bombing the southern suburbs of Beirut, Bekaa Valley, and cities and neighborhoods that support the resistance.

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We urge those who focus solely on Israel’s theatrical assassinations in Lebanon—and which are clearly part of a psychological warfare campaign—to reconsider and focus on stamping out intelligence breaches, to cease promoting Israeli plans and instead see the other side of the cup: The significant losses inflicted deep inside Israel, even reaching settlements around Gaza Strip in the far south. This war is still in its early stages, specifically its first month, and more than seven million settlers are living in shelters and tunnels day and night, terrified of Lebanese, Iranian, and Yemeni missiles.

Sheikh Naim Qassem, Secretary-General of Hezbollah, hit the nail on the head when he said that Israel poses an existential threat to everyone in Lebanon and beyond. Therefore, the resistance war must continue until this threat is eradicated. Hezbollah’s patience has its limits; it is not unlimited.

No pagers, no smartphones, no announcement of the names of the new leaders, and the party has returned to its early beginnings, which is equivalent to carrier pigeons, direct communication, smart ambushes, limited-number cells, and finally, patience and fighting until victory, which is imminent, God willing… and the days will tell.

This comment by Chief Editor of Abdel Bari Atwan of Al Rai Al Youm was translated from Arabic and published in crossfirearabia.com

UK Bans Israeli Ministers

• CrossFireArabia
• April 1, 2026

Foreign Secretary David Lammy has announced that the United Kingdom is barring Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich from entry, a firm diplomatic move signaling growing unease over escalating tensions and violence in the region. The decision reflects a broader effort to hold individuals accountable for rhetoric and actions perceived as fueling instability and deepening divisions. It underscores the UK’s commitment to countering extremism and protecting civilian communities, while also highlighting mounting international scrutiny of developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Seven Reasons For Trump’s Retreat on Iran

• CrossFireArabia
• March 25, 2026

By Abdel Bari Atwan

After repeatedly threatening to launch a devastating carpet bombing campaign against all of Iran’s power plants, and giving it only 48 hours to fully open the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers, US president Donald Trump shamefully backed down from this threat just hours before the deadline. He justified this retreat by claiming that “good and fruitful” talks had taken place with Iran, and that he had therefore ordered an immediate halt to the strikes.

The semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim quoted a senior Iranian official, who preferred to remain anonymous, denying any negotiations with the US side. The official stated that the message conveyed by the Iranian leadership to various mediators affirmed that “Iran will continue to defend its territory until the necessary deterrence is achieved,” and described Trump’s threats as part of a “psychological war.”

The real reasons that prompted Trump to make this shameful retreat, revealing the state of delirium and collapse he has been experiencing since the beginning of the aggression against Iran, can be summarized in the following points:

First: This retreat, which came less than 48 hours after issuing the ultimatum, is neither new nor surprising. The American president has learned nothing from his “mentor,” Netanyahu, who embroiled him in this aggression against Iran, and before that, in supporting the war of annihilation in the Gaza Strip, except for lying, deception, and exploiting the media to perpetuate them.

Second: Iran’s swift response to these threats came in the form of a pledge to retaliate in kind and bomb all energy facilities and infrastructure in Israel and the Gulf Arab states allied with America.

Third: The missile attack on the oil facilities and refinery in Jaffa three days ago was the first practical application of this response. This was followed by another response to the American aggression against the Iranian Natanz nuclear facility: The bombing of two Israeli cities with two giant hypersonic ballistic missiles, each with a warhead weighing at least a ton. The first city was Dimona, home to the Israeli nuclear reactor, and the second was Arad, where workers and experts at this reactor reside.

Fourth: The immense pressure exerted by the Gulf states on Trump to immediately retract this threat stems from the fact that their oil and gas facilities and desalination plants would be easy and certain targets for any Iranian retaliation, given their geographical proximity. Furthermore, retaliatory attacks on American bases in their territories have continued unabated since the beginning of the war.

Fifth: Trump hasn’t strayed from his background as a businessman and real estate broker. He demonstrates his loyalty to his associates, children, and in-laws who live off brokerage and profit-making by any means, amassing millions and billions in their bank accounts. These threats led to a rise in oil prices by more than $20 and gas prices by 30 percent. It’s certain they reaped substantial profits, perhaps in coordination with him, due to their speculation.

Sixth: The war has entered its 25th day without the aggression achieving any of its objectives: Toppling and dismantling the Iranian regime, and forcing it to retract its decision to control navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 21 million barrels of oil pass daily. The only ones harmed by this closure are the Western world and its economy, and the Gulf oil and gas producing states allied with Washington, most of which haven’t exported a single barrel since the start of the war.

Seventh: The “peace through strength” theory that President Trump boasts about has failed miserably so far and has backfired. To date, two American aircraft carriers have been damaged: The Abraham Lincoln, which was struck by a ballistic missile, and the Gerald R. Ford, which was hit by another missile, causing a fire that forced it to be towed to the Greek island of Crete for repairs. The false pretext given was a fire in the laundry room on board—a justification that even the most gullible people, including those like their leader Trump, wouldn’t be believed.

They wanted a short war with a swift and clean victory, while Iran wanted a long, attritional regional war. Iran has achieved a resounding victory and holds the upper hand, at least so far. The losses of the aggressors, particularly the Israelis and Americans, are now estimated in the billions daily. The scale of destruction we witnessed in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and most recently in Dimona and Arad is the most compelling evidence of this. Even more serious is the moral defeat, with more than seven million Israeli settlers living in shelters and tunnels day and night for the past 24 days of this aggression.

It is striking that the arrogant and foolish Trump found no one but Israel to praise for standing with him in this war after NATO and all European countries, his traditional allies and partners in all previous wars, abandoned him.

Perhaps it is worth reminding Trump, in conclusion, that Israel stood with him because he is fighting its war, not America’s or the Western world’s, and that it was Israel’s leadership that embroiled him in this aggression. Trump has lost his credibility, his war, most of his allies, if not all of them, and the prestige of his country and its global standing as a superpower. The only thing he gained was the satisfaction of “Israel,” or rather, its extremist right-wing terrorist government. Congratulations on this great achievement. We are waiting for his next threat and his shameful retreat from it, and our wait will certainly not be long.

The author is the Editor of the Arabic Al Rai Al Youm website and reprinted crossfirearabia.com

US-Israel Drags The World Into a Global Crisis

• CrossFireArabia
• March 20, 2026

By Abdel Bari Atwan

By bombing Iran’s Pars gas field, the world’s largest with missiles, and with a green light from President Donald Trump, the Israeli occupation state and its right-wing ruling clique is revealing a major, diabolical plan. Its goal is to drag the world into a massive economic crisis on all levels, starting with an energy crisis that may be even more dangerous than the Arab oil embargo of 1973, in solidarity with Egypt and Syria, leading to a wider global conflict.

This Israeli bombing of Iran’s South Pars gas field, which came after the third week of the war and the failure of the US-Israeli alliance to topple the Iranian regime, constitutes the most significant breach of red lines and will have very serious and dangerous consequences in this war. Gas prices have already risen by 36 percent today, while the price of a barrel of oil has reached $118 so far. These figures may triple, if not more, if Iran retaliates by bombing energy facilities in the Gulf, especially in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait. It is an option that is not out of the question, given the threats issued by the new leadership, which states that the “oil and gas sites in neighboring countries have become direct and legitimate targets after the bombing of the South Pars field.”

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By taking this step—bombing the South Pars gas field facilities—the Israeli army has shifted the conflict from a realm of threatening maritime routes, primarily the Strait of Hormuz, to targeting production infrastructure. This is a very dangerous shift if it escalates and will lead to an expansion of the scope of this war and its objectives and reflects the despair and frustration Israel is experiencing due to its failure to achieve its objectives in waging this war, and rallying the western world behind Trump’s leadership whilst trapping it in the Iranian snare, and seeking to eliminate the existential threat to its survival, namely Iran and the resistance factions it supports.

Iran managed this war with unprecedented political and military acumen. The developments of the first three weeks demonstrated that it was well-prepared for all eventualities according to a well-devised plan. The most prominent evidence of this was its deception of the occupying state and its generals when it used older-generation missiles to absorb and deplete Israel’s air defenses. Then, it delivered the decisive blow by bombarding major occupied Palestinian cities with advanced, hypersonic cluster missiles, turning Tel Aviv, Haifa, Acre, and Safed into ghost towns.

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The “decapitation” theory, which Israel used as a successful formula for regime change and collapse, exemplified by the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was thwarted by Iranian ingenuity, yielding the opposite results. The Iranian regime emerged stronger than before the assassination war, now led by a young figurehead, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the new Supreme Leader. His first decree was to refuse negotiations with the US to halt the killings unless it fully submitted to Iranian demands, including surrender, a cessation of hostilities, and the payment of reparations.

The lack of response from NATO, and indeed from not a single country Trump appealed to for intervention and the deployment of warships to forcibly reopen the Strait of Hormuz—from China to Australia—underscores his and his Israeli allies’ early defeat in this war and signals the beginning of the countdown to his removal from power, and perhaps even his trial as a war criminal. Time will tell.

This op/ed by the the Chief Editor of Al Rai Al Youm was translated from Arabic and reprinted in crossfirearabia.com.

Hormuz: End of an Era of Martime Dominance

• CrossFireArabia
• March 16, 2026

By Ismail Al-Sharif

“Nations that believe themselves to be eternal are often the first to be surprised by history.” – Charles de Gaulle

In May 1949, the Chinese Civil War was nearing its conclusion in favor of the Communists under Mao Zedong. At that time, Great Britain, the world’s most powerful nation, maintained warships on the Yangtze River to protect its citizens and commercial interests in cities like Shanghai and Nanjing. Among these ships was the British frigate HMS Amethyst.

On April 20, 1949, the frigate sailed up the Yangtze River toward Nanjing, but the Communist forces, who controlled the northern bank of the river, considered the ship’s presence a foreign intervention in the war. Suddenly, Chinese artillery began bombarding the ship, inflicting direct hits. Its captain and several crew members were killed, and its navigation system was disabled before it finally ran aground in the mud near the shore.

Other British ships attempted to come to its aid, but they too were fired upon by Chinese artillery and forced to retreat. The ship remained trapped for four months under fire from communist forces, amidst tense negotiations between Great Britain and the communist leadership.

On the night of July 30, 1949, the ship’s new captain, John Cairns, decided to execute a daring plan. He waited for a merchant ship to pass, then moved behind it in the darkness, taking advantage of its cover. His plan succeeded; the ship managed to escape and reach open waters.

This incident is considered a symbol of the end of the era of British imperial dominance and a harbinger of its decline. Many historians cite it as the moment when the great powers realized that the world had changed and that the balance of power was no longer what it once was. This story is repeating itself today, but it’s not about a single ship; it extends to the American destroyers that patrol our seas.

Half a century ago, missile production was prohibitively expensive, and the technology for precise guidance systems was unavailable. Therefore, the American navy was designed according to the realities of that era. Then came the 21st century, when electronic technology and computers became accessible to everyone, and precision guidance systems became readily available, whether in a sophisticated missile or a simple drone.

The Ukrainian war revealed that the era of tanks is over; they became easy targets for drones that cost only a few thousand dollars each. Similarly, the Iranian war reveals that warships at sea are like tanks on land: Easy targets for drones and missiles.

Consider the crown jewel of the American navy, the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower, which resembles a floating city with an area of ​​approximately 18,900 square meters. It is accompanied by other highly advanced destroyers possessing immense destructive power. However, no destroyer carries an equal number of interceptor missiles and drones to those possessed by its adversaries.

This is why Iran continues to defy this presence and close the Strait of Hormuz. This scenario is reminiscent of the Houthis’ actions when a group from one of the world’s poorest countries challenged the world’s most powerful nations and managed to disrupt shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait last year.

Iran controls the northern coast of the Strait of Hormuz and possesses a diverse arsenal that includes land-based missiles, submarines, drones, fast attack craft, and sea mines. In contrast, US warships have only a limited number of defense systems compared to the size of Iran’s arsenal in this region.

Military strategists have formulated a simple equation called the “fire-off equation.” This equation posits that a ship’s survival depends less on its destructive power and more on the ratio of threats directed at it to the number of interceptor missiles it possesses to counter them. When Iran or the Houthis launch a salvo of 50 drones at a destroyer with a limited stockpile of interceptor missiles—a stockpile that cannot be replenished in combat—the objective is not necessarily to sink the ship directly, but rather to exhaust its defenses. Once the interceptor missiles are depleted, these destroyers are reduced to approximately 9000 tons of scrap metal adrift at sea.

In late 2023 and throughout 2024, the Houthis targeted ships in the Red Sea, placing the US Navy in a precarious position. Unable to forcibly reopen the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, commercial shipping was rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope, a detour of approximately 19,000 kilometers. This added weeks to each voyage and incurred additional costs estimated at thousands of dollars. Thus, the most powerful navy in history found itself unable to secure the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

For 80 years, the global economy has been built on the assumption that US ships can keep shipping lanes open. However, recent conflicts demonstrate that this assumption is beginning to crumble. Naval power can still destroy the largest fleets on the high seas, but on coastlines and in narrow waterways, it appears less decisive.

It’s a story reminiscent of the British frigate HMS Amethyst; a moment when superpowers discover their power is no longer what it once was, and that the era of absolute dominance is drawing to a close.

This article by Ismail Al Sharif was originally written in Arabic for the Addustour daily and reprinted here in crossfirearabia.com