[News] Israel's 'battle between wars' has failed

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Israel's 'battle between wars' has failed

The Lebanese resistance has utterly gutted Israel's years-long strategy of
denying its access to weapons. Tel Aviv's strikes on Syria have failed to
impede Hezbollah's arms, which grow qualitatively and quantitatively with
each passing day, and are now produced en masse domestically.

Khalil Nasrallah <https://thecradle.co/authors/khalil-nasrallah>

APR 2, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/israels-battle-between-wars-has-failed
(Photo Credit: The Cradle)

Work is ongoing to open new warehouses and bring in new land, sea, and air
missiles that are more accurate and of higher quality. What we used to
store in six months before 7 October, we now restock in a month.

So said Hezbollah resource and border official Nawaf al-Musawi, one of the
Lebanese resistance's strategic minds and a former deputy in Lebanon's
parliament. His 26 March disclosure carries significant weight amid the
ongoing war in Gaza and notable escalations
<https://thecradle.co/articles/hiding-the-ratio-israel-conceals-200-troop-deaths-on-lebanon-front>
between
Hezbollah and the Israeli forces, particularly along the southern Lebanese
front, where events inch closer to full-scale warfare.

Musawi's big reveal is evidence that Israel has not only failed to prevent
the supply of quality weapons to Hezbollah but that the resistance group
has managed to accelerate its accumulation of armaments in the past half
year.

More importantly, it demonstrates that Tel Aviv's escalated strikes on
Syria have failed altogether. Since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in
2011, the Israeli attacks, described by Tel Aviv as the "battle between wars
<https://www.jusoor.co/en/details/the-israeli-counter-iran-strategy-in-syria>,"
had several objectives, foremost among them to prevent the arrival – via
Syrian territory – of a "balance-breaker" weapon that could surprise or
even cripple Israel's defenses. And, of course, to impede the quantitative
flow of arms to the Lebanese resistance.

To grasp the significance of war developments since 7 October, it's
imperative to delve into the historical context of the "battle between
wars" strategy initiated by Israel in Syria. Through this campaign, Tel
Aviv has tried to prevent the growing armament capabilities of the
resistance across various domains, thereby securing its own superiority in
multiple spheres and pre-empting Hezbollah's ability to dictate qualitative
terms even in the event of a full-scale war.

*Syria's 'battle between wars' *

Following the civil war in Syria in 2011 and the influx of
western–Arab–Turkish-backed armed extremists to overthrow the Syrian
government, concerns arose within Israel about the potential transfer of
advanced weaponry from Damascus to the Lebanese resistance.

Concurrently, Tehran's involvement in Syria, through the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) working to enhance Hezbollah's precision
weapons, drones, and air defenses, further heightened these apprehensions.

In turn, Israel initiated the "battle between wars" aimed at preventing the
transfer of "game-changing" weapons to Hezbollah – including precision
armaments, air defense systems, seaborne missiles, advanced drones,
military techniques, and manufacturing technologies – disrupting the supply
route to the Lebanese resistance, undermining the Syrian army's armament
and capabilities, keeping Iran away from occupied-Palestine's borders and
establishing a "security belt" extending 40 to 80 kilometers into the
occupied Syrian Golan.

To achieve these objectives, the campaign in Syria unfolded in stages.
Initially, it involved supporting armed groups with the support of the US
and Persian Gulf states. They aimed to gain control over southern Syria and
dismantle Syrian air defense units, thereby granting Israel unhindered
access to the country's airspace.

This strategy proved successful until 31 January 2013
<https://www.economist.com/pomegranate/2013/01/31/a-rare-israeli-attack-on-syria>,
when
Israel directly intervened by launching the first attack conducted by the
Israeli Air Force, targeting the Scientific Research Center in the Jamraya
area of the Damascus countryside. Israeli media portrayed this strike as
disrupting a convoy purportedly bound for Lebanon.

Since then, Israel has repeatedly violated Syria's sovereignty, having
conducted 288 air operations in Syria on thousands of assets that Tel Aviv
describes as arms shipments, air defense systems, "Syrian, Iranian
positions," infrastructure, high-quality weapons stores, scientific
research centers, radar sites, civilian and military airports, and other
sites.

In response to Israel's aggression and the stated objectives of its Syria
campaign, Hezbollah and its allies embarked on a fierce security war,
succeeding in disrupting Tel Aviv's objectives.

Furthermore, Hezbollah has embarked on a project to domestically
manufacture missiles and drones within Lebanon, a fact acknowledged by
Israeli political circles, research institutes, and former generals. In
this context, Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly
characterized the so-called battle between wars as a failure.

In a 2022 address, Nasrallah stated
<https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/287941-nasrallah-hizbullah-making-precision-missiles-drones-inside-lebanon>:
"I tell the Israelis that what they call a 'battle between wars' has turned
the threat into an opportunity for the resistance."

"We now possess the ability to transform our thousands of rockets into
precision-guided missiles," Nasrallah added.

*After Operation Al-Aqsa Flood*

Which brings us to the present day. Following the Palestinian resistance's
7 October Al-Aqsa Flood operation, the Israeli Prime Minister declared a
state of war, igniting the war front in southern Lebanon the very next day
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/8/israel-hezbollah-exchange-fire-raising-regional-tensions>
and
plunging all of West Asia into a state of insecurity.

In response, Israel hurriedly launched strikes in Syria, disrupting Aleppo
International Airport and Damascus Airport on 12 October 2023. These
preemptive actions were driven by fears that the Axis of Resistance could
utilize these airports to transport weaponry and fighters.

Over the past six months, Israel has conducted 30 attacks targeting more
than a hundred sites across various regions of Syria, including the north,
south, east, and center. These strikes encompassed assassinations and the
targeting of Iranian advisors involved in supporting the resistance,
notably General Razi Mousavi
<https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-mousavi-revolutionary-guards-killed-israel/32746803.html>,
responsible for aiding the resistance front in Syria, and most recently,
the 1 April strike on the Iranian consulate
<https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-airstrike-flattens-iranian-consulate-in-damascus>
in
Damascus, killing senior Iranian military advisors safeguarding the Quds
Force, led by Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/02/mohammad-reza-zahedi-who-was-the-iranian-commander-killed-in-an-israeli-strike-in-syria>
.

An analysis of the nature of these attacks reveals Tel Aviv's strategic
maneuvers to circumvent wartime constraints, including on the Lebanese
front, albeit within certain limitations. These strikes were aimed at
disrupting the resistance's armaments in Lebanon, weakening resistance
positions in Syria, and exacting reprisals against Iranian figures
supporting the resistance forces.

*Hezbollah brings out the big guns*

Amidst the ongoing confrontation, the resistance has showcased several
types of advanced weaponry, signaling its preparedness and capabilities and
warning off the enemy by forcing its military to step back and recalibrate
its attainable objectives.

Since 8 October, those reveals have included the Almas – or "Diamond" –
missile, which carries a camera in its head, hits fixed and moving targets,
has a range of more than ten kilometers, and has been used in several
operations, most notably hitting the "Meron" base and successfully
penetrating Israeli tank defenses.

Precision-hit drones have also been used in several operations, including
targeting Israel's Northern Command headquarters, its army positions,
armored vehicles, and tanks.

We have also seen unidentified Hezbollah air defense missiles successfully
intercepting
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hezbollah-says-it-downed-israeli-drone-over-lebanese-territory-2024-02-26/>
Israeli
drones, such as the Hermes 450, and neutralizing others flying over border
areas, as confirmed by resistance statements. In addition, we have seen
modified Burkan and Falaq-1 rockets with high destructive capabilities,
targeting Israeli military sites, troop gatherings, and illegal
settlements.

While these revelations represent only a fraction of the resistance's
arsenal, they illustrate its success in accumulating weaponry deemed by
Israelis as destabilizing the regional balance. Hezbollah's ability to
procure and potentially domestically manufacture and develop such armaments
over preceding years is further proof of its strategic prowess.

*A losing 'battle'*

It is undeniable that Israeli actions have resulted in casualties within
the ranks of the resistance, particularly evident in their constant
violations of Syria's sovereignty, using it as a battleground to settle
scores against Iran.

Nevertheless, the strategic implications of these actions have not halted
the resilience of the resistance. Despite the ongoing conflict, the
resistance accumulates capabilities and bolsters its qualitative armament
in unprecedented numbers.

Ali Haidar, an expert on Israeli affairs, informs *The Cradle* that
Hezbollah's ongoing arming during the current war signifies the failure of
Israel's "battle between wars" strategy. He emphasizes that Hezbollah's
continued accumulation of weaponry illustrates the enduring effectiveness
of its deterrence umbrella over strategic facilities.

According to Haidar, "There is a new phase that Hezbollah has risen to,
which constitutes an additional challenge to the enemy entity and its will
to confront."

The group's uninterrupted accumulation of weapons during these years,
Haidar says, shows that:

Hezbollah's deterrence strategy continues to protect its strategic
facilities, and that this umbrella is very effective, contrary to the
impression created by Israel carrying out some strikes here and there. This
is also reflected in the level of development reached by the resistance in
expertise and production and its determination to improve those
capabilities.

The ongoing battle between wars has seen the resistance in Lebanon
significantly augmenting its weapons capabilities in terms of quantity,
quality, and diversity. This represents a substantial strategic setback for
Israel, which has expended vast sums on its strategy in Syria without
achieving its objectives.

The impact of Hezbollah's significant armament operation will undoubtedly
influence Israeli war calculations, especially if Tel Aviv's War Council
favors stepping up hostilities against Lebanon. The ramifications of these
efforts in terms of armaments during the war will be keenly felt as the
battle edges closer to war.
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