Halevi: Israel Suffers ‘Heavily, Painfully’ in Lebanon

Military expert Colonel Hatem Karim Al-Falahi said the Israeli occupation’s entry into southern Lebanon must be understood within the directions “previously set by Hezbollah in its defensive plan for any ground battle.” He also listed the reasons for the high losses among the Israeli forces.

Al-Falahi said the defensive operation is important in military sciences as it means waiting for the enemy to find a better opportunity. He indicated this operation must take into account the nature of the changing reality, and respond to all possibilities, either completely or partially.

He pointed out the Israeli high losses in southern Lebanon are due to several reasons, including the nature of the geography, which is different from the battles of the Gaza Strip. This is in addition to the deployment of military teams exhausted by the fighting in the streets, homes and neighborhoods of Gaza, he maintained.

Weak

Al Falahi on Al Jazeera explained that the combat capabilities of the Israeli military “appear weak in an environment friendly to Hezbollah fighters that has known defensive arrangements for a long time.”

He pointed out five Israeli military divisions are participating in the ground incursion operations in southern Lebanon: 210, 98, 91, 36, 146, and each division includes more than one military brigade, and according to military standards has more than 10,000 soldiers.

The occupation’s losses in Lebanon has come as a result of the direct clashes and/or targeting with artillery or mortar shells on the border strip with Hezbollah fighters, starting from Ras al-Naqoura to the Shebaa Farms.

The occupation has revealed that 88 Israeli soldiers were injured in the battles in Lebanon in the past 48 hours, while Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi acknowledged that Israel is suffering “heavily and painfully”.

Continue reading
Israel’s Two Flawed Plans For Gaza

Military analyst Colonel Hatem Karim Al-Falahi said the appointment of an military governor for the Gaza Strip shows the Israeli army is bent on a new stage of escalation in Gaza.

He added the fourth stage of the war operations announced by the Israeli occupation is built on previous stages; whilst adding the Israeli occupation seeks to work through two plans in the coming stage of the war as per his broadcast on Al Jazeera.

He explained Plan “A” will rely on mobile offensive operations that penetrate areas that the Israeli army has not entered before and will rely on intelligence information for this.

He pointed out there is a major problem in this plan as announced by the Israeli army because it will inevitably “avoid the locations of the prisoners.” He asked incredulously however, If the Israeli army knew where they are why didn’t they get them back.”

As for Plan B, Al-Falahi indicated it depends on moving through the Netzarim and Philadelphi axes and carrying out offensive operations in multiple areas, searching for tunnels and forcing the resistance not to move through continuous monitoring by drones and satellites, in addition to using agents and spies.

The military expert warned that Plan B talks about forcing the residents of north Gaza to move towards the central region via the coastal road within what he called the “Heroes’ Plan”, with the aim of completely evacuating the region to provide opportunities for the Israeli families who were displaced to return to their homes in the border areas outside the Strip.

Al-Falahi pointed out the contradiction and major flaw in Plan A announced by the Israeli occupation is that it deviates from the reality that has already proved that military pressure has not resulted in the return of the prisoners for last 11 months except in coffins.

He said reports confirm that Palestinian resistance groups are still capable of carrying out painful strikes against the occupation after they renewed and reintegrated their battalions and carried on with making more rockets and missiles.

Continue reading