Israel's military is carrying out fresh strikes tonight.

The IDF says it is carrying out "targeted strikes" on buildings in Beirut it says are storing Hezbollah weapons underneath them
The attaks come after it ordered people to evacuate buildings in areas in the south of Lebanon's capital for their safety.

Nearly 800 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon since Monday, local officials say.

Hezbollah is pounded by Israel but key ally Iran is reluctant to intervene
The Washington Post by Susannah George, Suzan Haidamous and Abigail Hauslohner 27 September 2024

Extracts:
Heading into the U.N. General Assembly,
and the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei -- calm before the storm....

Hezbollah chief Nasrallah’s fatal underestimation of Israel
by Hussain Abdul-Hussain Research Fellow Foundation for Defense of Democracies Washington DC 27 September 2024

Extracts:
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has miscalculated and in the process dragged Lebanon into a bloodbath that the already impoverished, isolated and desperate Lebanese can ill afford

The world is trying to help him save face although first he must agree to many concessions before Israel lets him off the hook But what brought him here?

Nasrallah fell into the classic trap of an undisputed leader who lives alone and surrounds himself with yes men
Since 2006 he has rarely been seen in public Those who get to meet him are taken, blindfolded, through a maze of security measures that lead to the militia chief

Detachment from the general population, coupled with a personality cult that Nasrallah has so carefully cultivated over the past two decades, limited his awareness of reality.

When justifying his “war in support of Gaza” the Hezbollah chief did not measure cost and effectMixing faith with reason is hardly a recipe for success

Nasrallah then started believing his own propaganda, that Israel was weak, that his militia was invincible, so much so that – in one speech – he threatened to attack Cyprus, a member of the EU

Israel however was not on its last legs
Its economy was not in tatters. Its population was not decadent and unwilling to fight for the homeland, or shrinking due to emigration

Only hit pieces in “resistance axis” media underestimated Israel’s strength and resilience
The “axis of resistance” overestimated its own power

Missiles are not new

Saddam Hussein produced hundreds of Al-Hussein and Al-Abbas ballistic missiles and threw up to 40 of them at Tel Aviv While they are a threat, especially to civilians, these weapons cannot annihilate Israel or any other country nor can the wedding photography drones that Hezbollah and Iraqi militias launch on Israel with a small load of explosives

Among the axis, its leader Iran understood the limitation of its military
In the two instances that it launched missiles at an American base in Iraq and on Israel, Tehran choreographed the attack carefully and made it known that it was a one-off event designed to save face

The Houthis in Yemen, too, realized that Israel was capable of hurting them much more than they could inflict damage on Israel
Since their drone killed an Israeli and almost cost them control of the port of Hodeidah, the Houthis have launched only one ballistic missile which the “axis of resistance” spent a week praising and analyzing how it presumably “changed the course of the war”

Only Hamas’s Yahya Sinwar and Nasrallah did not understand that “the unity of the fronts” was more wishful thinking than reality

Iran never came to the rescue of Hamas or Hezbollah
These proxies were designed to fight and die for Iran to secure its interests on the cheap, not to drag it into costly direct wars

Last but not least, Israel’s failures on October 7, 2023 might have convinced Nasrallah of its weakness

It took the Israelis up to 72 hours to push Hamas fighters out of the villages that they had raided and ravaged and to wither down the waves of Hamas that continued to push into Israeli territory. On October 8 when Israel looked at its weakest, Nasrallah launched his war

Israel’s focus on Gaza in the south limited its response to Hezbollah in the north and made Nasrallah believe that he had set the tone and tempo of what he called “the rules of engagement” Nasrallah believed he had waged a low intensity war that he could afford and that would allow him to set the conditions for how it ends

But when Israel was done with Hamas?! -- not quite .... it shifted its military weight northward and started running circles around Hezbollah which stood helpless and suffered heavy blows

To make up for his humiliation, Nasrallah’s propaganda started celebrating that its rockets were activating Israel’s sirens and Iron Dome defenses and sending Israelis to shelters

Hezbollah might have retained its big guns, its long-range precision guided missiles
But these have not been tested yet, and  — judging by its performance so far — Israel might take another rabbit out of its hat and surprise Hezbollah by sidelining their effect


How much of Israel’s strength comes from within and how much from foreign support is debatable but irrelevant to anyone who is planning to wage war on Israel War plans cannot be built on “what if” America did not support Israel

Had Lebanon been free and Hezbollah’s war and peace policies open for debate, Nasrallah could have read these lines before taking the country to hell

But when dissenting Lebanese voices are accused of treason and perceived as “part of the enemy’s psychological war” Nasrallah’s ability to discern fact from fiction becomes impaired and Lebanon plunges into the abyss

and outgoing EU chiefs!

Middle East crisis: Israel launches more strikes on Beirut
The Guardian 28 September 2024

Borrell regrets failure to 'stop' Netanyahu -- now that Russia-Ukraine war, Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis and other terrorists terror and all the other wars, ethnic cleansing etc. have been stopped....

The European Union’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, has voiced regret that no power, including the US, can “stop” Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the Israeli prime minister appears determined to crush militants in Gaza and Lebanon

“What we do is to put all diplomatic pressure to a ceasefire but nobody seems to be able to stop Netanyahu neither in Gaza nor in the West Bank” Agence France-Presse reports Borrell telling journalists as he attended the UN general assembly on Friday

Borrell backed an initiative by France and the US for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon which Israel has brushed aside as it steps up strikes on Hezbollah targets


The outgoing EU foreign affairs chief again called for diversifying diplomacy from the US which has tried for months unsuccessfully to seal a ceasefire in Gaza that would include the release of hostages

Middle East crisis: Israel launches more strikes on Beirut
The Guardian 28 September 2024

Extracts:

• Hassan Nasrallah

Israeli media reported the strike on Beirut as an attempt to kill Hezbollah’s leader and key Iran ally, Hassan Nasrallah

IDF spokesperson Hagari said it was still looking into the results of its strike but that it was “very accurate”

• Hezbollah – Iran's linchpin

Even if Nasrallah was not harmed in the strike, targeting Nasrallah would mark a staggering escalation on the Israeli side

The Hezbollah leader represents Iran’s most important regional asset and has long been seen as linchpin in the so-called axis of resistance

The presence of Hezbollah’s large rocket arsenal on Israel’s northern border has long acted as a deterrent to an Israeli attack on Iran and its nuclear programme

• Israel’s objective in Lebanon

• Hezbollah still standing -- still firing

Hezbollah responded by bombing Safed, a city in north Israel, with a rocket salvo “in response to Israeli attacks on cities, villages and civilians”

The Iran-backed militant group announced more attacks at Karmiel and Sa’ar but did not put out a statement regarding the fate of Nasrallah

• Hezbollah's potential retaliation

Israel braced itself for potential retaliation from Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as from Yemen and Iran, urging residents of Golan Heights, Safed, Merom HaGalil, to stay near protected areas

As always, it is the innocent civilians, paying the price
1. Palestinian, now Lebanese between a rock and a hard place
2. Israeli hostages

Eliminating Terrorists

https://x.com/thisislebnews/status/1839690847513612467

The Guardian September 28, 2024
IDF tells civilians to leave ahead of strikes on buildings in southern Beirut in 'coming hours'

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has warned that it will strike areas of southern Beirut in the “coming hours” and called on civilians to leave those areas.

The statement by IDF spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari comes after the IDF ordered residents of Dahiyeh, the southern suburb of Beirut, to evacuate certain areas as they were “located near Hezbollah interests”.

A map posted by an Israeli military spokesperson showed different neighbourhoods of Dahiyeh, pointing to specific buildings in al-Laylakeh and al-Hadath, both densely populated areas of Beirut.

Hagari reiterated the warning to residents of three buildings in Dahiyeh to evacuate.

He said: In the coming hours we are going to strike strategic capability that Hezbollah placed underground, under three buildings in the heart of the Dahiyeh.
And Nasarallah stayed put in that specific building – sitting duck for Israeli strike

Benjamin Netanyahu used his U.N. speech to condemn the United Nations, calling it a “swamp of antisemitic bile” that needs to be drained —

He repeated frequent claims that antisemitism drives the United Nations to single out Israel.
The singling out of the one and only Jewish state continues to be a moral stain on the United Nations.

It has made this once-respected institution contemptible, in the eyes of decent people everywhere.
But for the Palestinians, this UN house of darkness is home court.

They know that in this swamp of antisemitic bile, there’s an automatic majority willing to demonize the Jewish state for anything.
In this anti-Israel flat-earth society, any false charge, any outlandish allegation can muster a majority.
His full speech

The Washington Post September 28, 2024
Hundreds of Hezbollah fighters are estimated to have been killed and “significant” munitions and equipment destroyed since Monday, according to an assessment by one government.

The speed with which so much was destroyed shows the extent of Israel’s intelligence gathering, said an official briefed on the assessment.

He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the assessment to journalists.

In Israel, Nasrallah's death will be viewed as a huge victory
published at 13:18 British Summer Time
13:18 BST

Jeremy Bowen
International Editor

In Israel, the killing of Hasan Nasrallah will be seen as a huge victory.

For more than 30 years he has been the beating heart of Hezbollah. With the aid of his close allies in Iran, he turned Hezbollah into a fighting force that in 2000 forced Israel to end a two-decade occupation of south Lebanon.

In 2006, he led Hezbollah as it fought Israel to a standstill.

Nasrallah has been Israel’s biggest single enemy – in recent years, only Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the Hamas attack on Israel in October last year, has come close.

Against the wishes of its American allies, Israel has taken the fight to Hezbollah after almost a year of an attritional border war.

In the last few weeks Israel has activated a war plan it has been working on since the last war with Hezbollah ended in 2006.

Israel has inflicted huge damage on its enemy in Lebanon. Killing its leader is the biggest blow of all.

The question now is how Hezbollah – and Iran – will respond. They might now be concluding that if they don’t hit back hard they will be facing a strategic defeat.

The uncertainty and danger in the Middle East is why the US and Israel’s western allies tried to persuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire to create a pause for diplomacy.

It’s too late for that now.

If Israel developed a war plan against Hezbollah since 2006, they also have one for Iran ! They could destroy all their important infrastructure in a few days.

We were talking to some of the displaced in Ain al-Mraysseh, a neighbourhood in Beirut, when Hezbollah confirmed the killing of its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Many could not handle the news.

Some collapsed on the floor, others started shouting, running in all directions and crying.

One lady said: “I wish they killed us all and kept him”.

Another said: “How could I ever go back to Dahieh knowing Sayyed [Hassan Nasrallah] isn’t there anymore”.

The shock is massive. Nasrallah wasn’t just the top leader for his large base of supporters - he was an idol.

Not everyone in Beirut is a Hezbollah supporter - but in some streets, people fired bullets in the air as a sign of anger and sadness.

From: The Washington Post September 27, 2024
Iran’s focus on engagement and its hesitance to intervene on the ground demonstrate the limited military options available to reestablish deterrence with Israel after a year of heightened hostilities in the region, analysts and diplomats say.

From: Reuters September 28, 2024
Iran on Saturday called for the United Nations Security Council to meet over Israel's actions in Lebanon and across the region, Iran's U.N. ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani wrote in a letter to the 15-member body after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly warns against any attack on its diplomatic premises and representatives in violation of the foundational principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises and reiterates that it will not tolerate any repeat of such aggression," he wrote.

"Iran will not hesitate to exercise its inherent rights under international law to take every measure in defense of its vital national and security interests," Iravani said.

Interesting! any repeat....

From: Al Jazeera September 28, 2024
US political leaders rally behind Israel after Nasrallah killing

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris express support despite threat of regional war.

Political leaders in the United States have rallied behind Israel after massive Israeli air strikes in Beirut levelled residential buildings and killed the powerful Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris – both Democrats – and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson have expressed support for the Friday attack, despite what is expected to be a substantial civilian death toll.

Former Republican President Donald Trump does not appear to have commented yet on the killing of Nasrallah

“Hassan Nasrallah and the terrorist group he led, Hezbollah, were responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade reign of terror,” Biden said in a news release on Saturday. “His death from an Israeli air strike is a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians.”

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant that the US “remains postured to protect US forces and facilities in the region and committed to the defence of Israel” in a phone call on Friday.

The Biden administration has been criticised by activists and analysts who say that his unconditional support for Israel has resulted in a trend of perpetual escalation and Israeli attacks that include large civilian death tolls and violations of international law.

While Trump has yet to comment on the killing of Nasrallah, conservative lawmakers have rejected the Biden administration’s call for a ceasefire and urged stronger support for Israel’s campaigns in Lebanon and Gaza.

“We call on the Biden-Harris Administration to end its counter-productive calls for a cease-fire and its ongoing diplomatic pressure campaign against Israel,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement on Saturday.

From: Reuters September 29, 2024
Hezbollah faces the enormous challenge of plugging the infiltration that allowed Israel to destroy weapons sites, booby-trap its communications and assassinate the veteran leader.

Israeli Air Force: Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world

i don't want war i want to stay home i don't want to go to lebanon
but on the other hand there is probably no other option but to fight in the ground there and get hezbollah far away from the northern border.

Lieutenant Colonel Yoni Netanyahu [1946-1976]Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 27 September 2024 United Nations General Assembly UNGA speech
It's a long way to the top! if you wanna rock 'n' roll [Ref: AC/DC Australian Rock band] - in terror business

• Hezbollah -- still standing still firing
• Hamas --
  1. still undefeated still unconquered
  2. how many hostages are still alive
  3. Where is Yahya Sinwar

Yemen’s Houthis claim attacks on Israeli cities, US warships
Al Jazeera 27 September 2024

• Houthis

Iran-aligned group says it will continue its attacks on Israel until its ‘aggression on Lebanon and Gaza stops’

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim they have attacked the Israeli cities of Tel Aviva and Ashkelon as well as three US navy warships with missiles and drones

The Iran-aligned group pledged on Friday, to continue its attacks on Israel until its “aggression on Lebanon and Gaza stops” after it emerged that its attempt to hit Tel Aviv had been foiled by air defences
In a separate speech, Saree also said that the group had simultaneously targeted three US destroyers in the Red Sea with 23 ballistic and winged missiles and a drone while the vessels were on their way to support Israel

The Houthis have repeatedly fired at Israel and have carried out numerous attacks on Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait since November 2023 in what they describe as a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli attack in Gaza

Now, as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, with Israeli strikes killing more than 700 people since Monday, the Houthis are also demanding that Israel halt its assault on Lebanon

Hezbollah is pounded by Israel but key ally Iran is reluctant to intervene
The Washington Post by Susannah George, Suzan Haidamous and Abigail Hauslohner 27 September 2024

Extracts:
In the past year, Hezbollah has suffered the heaviest losses of its four-decade history. Iran has offered rhetorical support but it has not joined the fight.

Airstrikes by Israel are dealing withering blows to Hezbollah, its longtime foe just across the border in Lebanon and one of Iran’s most important allies. But Tehran has been reluctant to intervene on behalf of the militant group, choosing instead to pursue engagement with the West

Hezbollah chief Nasrallah’s fatal underestimation of Israel
by Hussain Abdul-Hussain Research Fellow Foundation for Defense of Democracies Washington DC 27 September 2024

Extracts:
Iran never came to the rescue of Hamas or Hezbollah
These proxies were designed to fight and die for Iran to secure its interests on the cheap not to drag it into costly direct wars

The killing of Hassan Nasrallah leaves Iran with a fateful choice
The Guardian by Patrick Wintour 29 September 2024

Extracts:
Israel’s airstrike on Hezbollah’s leadership in Lebanon has far-reaching implications for Tehran and Washington

When Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, told reporters in New York on FridayBlinken could not have been more prescient, even if at the time, Blinken was hoping that Hezbollah and Israel could be persuaded to step back from the brink

Now, with the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah confirmed killed, the region, after 11 months, has finally stepped over the brink and into a place it has truly never been before

• Iran's fateful choice

Here's the thing.... Nasrallah could be the tipping point --
Israel has to answer for Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and now Nasrallah and everyone, everything Lebanon and Gaza

Iran's Challenging and Delicate, high-stakes Balancing act -- 'punishing' Israel -- without risking an all-out war

Nasrallah's successor will.... Israel's mighty and powerful Deterrence is the key 07 October 2023 Never Again

Dime a dozen successors

Al Jazeera September 28, 2024
The killing of Nasrallah, which follows the killing of a series of senior Hezbollah officials by Israel in recent weeks, is a body blow to the Lebanese group and a network of Iran-backed groups across the region.

It remains unclear what response the group and its allies in the region, such as Iran-backed militias in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen, will pursue.

Zelensky is jealous

France 24 April 15, 2024
Ukraine's Zelensky calls for same 'unity' from allies as for Israel

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged allies on Monday to show the same "unity" toward Ukraine as Israel, which said it repelled an Iranian attack over the weekend with Western support.

"By defending Israel, the free world has demonstrated that such unity is not only possible, but also one hundred per cent effective," he said. "The same is possible in defending Ukraine, which, like Israel, is not a NATO member, from terror," he continued, calling for "political will" from Ukraine's allies.

Iran over the weekend launched hundreds of drones and missiles, including from its own territory, at Israel in retaliation for a deadly April 1, strike on Iran's consulate in Damascus. 

Israel's military said it intercepted 99 percent of the aerial threats with the help of the United States and other allies, and that the overnight attack caused only minor damage.

Mr Zelensky: US and Israel go way back 76 years
The United States was the first country to recognize the nascent State of Israel, declared its establishment on May 14, 1948

See! They do read J Geoff's forum!

From: AAP, Reuters September 30, 2024
Israel strikes Houthi targets in Yemen as it continues to pound Lebanon

Israel says it has bombed Houthi targets -- power plants and Ras Issa and Hodeidah ports -- in Yemen in response to missile fire by the Iran-aligned rebels at Israel over the past two days, marking another front in fighting in the Middle East.

The Israeli strikes killed at least four people and wounded 29, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said in a statement, and residents said the bombing had caused power outages in most parts of the port city of Hodeidah.

Yemen's Houthis have launched sporadic attacks on Israel throughout that time and disrupted Red Sea shipping.


Their hands are tied, in Gaza because of the hostages

Hezbollah has enough rockets to 'swamp' systems including the Iron Dome
It is striking deeper into Israel with more powerful missiles. It may soon be what cracks the Iron Dome

One of Hezbollah's key strengths is, its large supply of missile systems and battlefield rockets, many of which are supplied by Iran.
It is believed to have stockpiles of upwards of 200,000 rockets

A series of salvos were launched from Lebanon on Sunday, including one that Hezbollah said targeted a group of Israeli soldiers.
Others targeted built-up areas in northern Israel, according to officials in Israel.

1. Hezbollah is now reeling
2. Senior political and military leaders have been killed;
3. those who survive are beset by mutual suspicion.
4. It faces pressure within Lebanon, from those furious at the state of the country
5. and frightened the group is driving it to outright catastrophe.

Iran does not want to be baited into a war on Israel’s terms;
it has always relied on proxies. But Hezbollah was supposed to be protection against a direct Israeli attack.

Now it wants to re-establish deterrence and reassure proxies without triggering the very fate it fears.

07 October 2023 Hamas did exactly that
1. cracked the Iron Dome
2. swamped it with a barrage of rockets and missiles
3. overpowered and effectively nullified the Iron Dome

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 27 September 2024 United Nations General Assembly UNGA speech
Arab world willing to guarantee Israel’s security if Palestinian state established
Times of Israel by TOI staff 30 September 2924

• What about the terrorists? -- guarantee every terrorist outfit will be disarmed and dismantled -- no more terror

Jordanian FM: Arab world willing to guarantee Israel’s security if Palestinian state established -- Rewarding terrorism

In a recent press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi insisted that Arab and Muslim countries will guarantee Israel’s security if Jerusalem agrees to allow the establishment of a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines while blasting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to do so

Safadi said at a Friday press conference shortly after Netanyahu finished his speech at the UN General Assembly,Safadi passionately argued.


All of us in the Arab world here, want a peace in which
Safadi continues.

“The amount of damage that this Israeli government has done — 30 years of efforts to convince people that peace is possible, this Israeli government killed it.

the Jordanian foreign minister says,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 27 September 2024 United Nations General Assembly UNGA speech
Netanyahu made these comments as Israel continues to bomb targets belonging to the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon amid fears that the attacks could spiral into a full-scale regional war

Whom does Netanyahu think he is? Michael Corleone!

Israel PM to Iranians: Israel stands with you, you’ll be ‘free sooner than people think’

https://www.timesofisrael.com/pm-to...-youll-be-free-sooner-than-people-think/