[News] Imad-4: Hezbollah’s ‘dig’ at Israeli propaganda

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Imad-4: Hezbollah’s ‘dig’ at Israeli propaganda

The revelation of Hezbollah’s underground missile facility not only debunks
Israeli claims of weapons being stored among civilians but also forces Tel
Aviv to recognize that Hezbollah’s strategic capabilities are far more
sophisticated than previously understood.

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

AUG 19, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/imad-4-hezbollahs-dig-at-israeli-propaganda
(Photo Credit: The Cradle)

Hezbollah’s decision last week to release a video
<https://x.com/TheCradleMedia/status/1824368443753144348> of its vast
underground network of tunnels is not one to be taken lightly. While the
organization has previously showcased some of its capabilities, this marks
the first unveiling of its strategic facility, “Imad-4
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26454>.” Named after the late Hezbollah
Military Commander Imad Mughniyeh, it houses a fraction of the Lebanese
resistance movement’s advanced missile arsenal.

The revelation carries significant messages, not only to the current
regional war centered on Gaza but also referencing events spanning at least
two and a half decades. Hezbollah’s messages are closely connected with the
Syrian conflict and Israel’s long-term efforts to prevent Lebanon from
acquiring weapons that could shift the balance of power, including those
sophisticated missile systems now being manufactured within Lebanon.

But one of the most critical aims of this disclosure is a full-frontal
challenge to Israel’s false narrative that Hezbollah stores its weapons,
particularly rockets, among civilian populations
<https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/06/23/hezbollah-stockpiles-weapons-at-beirut-airport/>
.

It is a groundless claim heavily promoted by Tel Aviv’s propaganda
apparatus and echoed by Hezbollah opponents within Lebanon. For security
reasons, Hezbollah has traditionally refrained from commenting on this
matter.

*Countering Israeli propaganda *

The unveiling of the Imad-4 missile facility represents a hefty blow to an
Israeli media narrative that seeks to portray Hezbollah as a military force
that hides behind civilians, storing its weapons in homes, schools,
residential complexes, and other civilian infrastructure.

That narrative has been a cornerstone of Tel Aviv’s anti-resistance
rhetoric, not only in Israeli circles but also among Arab, Lebanese, and
international media.

The examples are rife. On 12 July 2016, during a UN Security Council
session on Resolution 1701, Israeli envoy Danny Danon presented
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israels-un-envoy-hezbollah-has-terror-stronghold-in-south-lebanon/>
an
aerial photograph of the village of Shaqra in southern Lebanon, claiming
that Hezbollah had turned the village into a stronghold and that “one out
of three buildings used for terror activities, including rocket launchers
and arms depots.”

“Hezbollah has placed these positions next to schools and other public
institutions putting innocent civilians in great danger,” he charged.

In another instance, on 6 December 2018, Israeli army spokesman Avichai
Adraee posted on X, accompanied by a propaganda video
<https://x.com/AvichayAdraee/status/1070616168019431424>, repeating the
false claim that one out of every three houses in southern Lebanon is a
Hezbollah site:

Residents of Lebanon: this is the hidden truth. One in every three homes in
the south is a Hezbollah site. This is what is happening in Kafr Kila and
most of the Shia villages in south Lebanon. This is how Hezbollah has
turned southern Lebanon into a terrorist stronghold under the noses of the
Lebanese government.

Adraee made similar accusations on 14 July 2021, when he charged
<https://x.com/AvichayAdraee/status/1415310518391345154> Hezbollah with
establishing a military warehouse near a school in the town of Aba in
southern Lebanon. He noted that this warehouse was one of thousands of
targets in the possession of Israel’s Northern Command, which would be
targeted in any upcoming confrontation.

*Multi-front media assault *

But these Israeli fabrications have been widely amplified by western media,
with some publishing Israeli talking points – such as Rafic Hariri
International Airport <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25593> being a hub
for smuggling missiles or other alleged ‘facilities’
<https://www.dw.com/en/lebanon-denies-israeli-claims-of-hezbollah-missile-sites/a-45720312>
within
and around Beirut’s southern suburbs.

For many years, Arab media outlets have launched comparable campaigns,
aiming to sway Lebanese public opinion against Hezbollah and leveraging
these narratives in the country’s sectarian political dynamics.

In some instances, such as the incident in Ain Qana on 22 September 2020,
Arab and Lebanese media initially reported
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/22/blast-reported-in-hezbollah-stronghold-in-south-lebanon>
an
explosion as a Hezbollah weapons depot inside of a house. However, it was
later revealed to be a site for collecting remnants of shells and mines.

In another incident, days later, on 29 September, Hezbollah organized a media
tour
<https://www.nna-leb.gov.lb/ar/%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AA/135497/%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%85-%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A9-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B2>
in
the Ouzai area to refute claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu that it was a missile and weapons factory.

These events followed the national tragedy of the Beirut port explosion the
preceding month, which Hezbollah’s enemies and political rivals were keen
to exploit. Hezbollah faced grave accusations, like storing “ammonium
nitrate” at the port, which the movement vehemently denied
<https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsParis/376943.aspx>.

However, the showcasing of Imad-4 decisively counters these narratives,
whether from Israel or other media outlets, by demonstrating that its
missile arsenal and weapon storage facilities are located far from civilian
and residential areas.

*Strategic timing and tactical pressure*

While its exact location remains secret, the timing of Imad-4’s disclosure
is linked to several immediate concerns, given the heightened tensions in
the region. It comes in the wake of Israel’s twin assassinations of
Hezbollah war commander Fuad Shukr <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26225>
in Beirut and Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26234> in Tehran.

The move also aims to thwart any potential Israeli “pre-emptive strike
<https://www.jns.org/israels-options-pre-emptive-strike-or-retaliation/>”
against civilian areas, which Tel Aviv will try to spin as “missile
facilities.” It is also intended to disrupt Israeli calculations, which
could lead to miscalculations in response to any future actions by the
resistance. Furthermore, Imad-4 demonstrates Hezbollah’s readiness for
confrontation should Israel decide to escalate the conflict further.

As Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has hinted
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/nasrallah-hezbollah-deliberately-ambiguous-on-israeli-claims-of-missile-sites/>
at
in past speeches, the organization’s missile arsenal is being positioned in
a fortified and secret manner. The reveal also adds pressure to ongoing
Gaza ceasefire negotiations in Doha, intended to strengthen the hand of
Palestinian negotiators.

For more than two decades, the Lebanese resistance has been constructing
missile facilities in complete secrecy. Israel has expended considerable
intelligence resources trying to locate these facilities
<https://www.iiss.org/online-analysis/military-balance/2024/06/fighting-precision-with-precision/>
to
plan for any potential conflict.

Despite the challenges posed by the Syrian war, Hezbollah managed to
transfer advanced weapons to Lebanon, where they are presently manufactured
and developed, including missile systems and drones.

*Thickening the fog of war *

Hezbollah’s revelation of the Imad-4 facility undoubtedly forces Israeli
decision-makers to reconsider their strategies, particularly within the
security establishment. The questions raised go beyond mere confrontation
with Lebanon or the decision to escalate into full-scale war; they touch on
broader regional dynamics.

The strategic preparations Hezbollah has made in Lebanon are just one piece
of a larger puzzle. The Syrian arena, too, plays a critical role in the
Axis of Resistance’s strategy, where missile facilities have been built
over years of conflict and even prior.

One of the primary objectives of Israel’s so-called “battle between wars
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/24198>” in Syria was to prevent the
Syrian army from regaining its strategic missile capabilities and to
disrupt Iran’s and its allies’ efforts to build war infrastructure designed
to be used against Israel in the event of the Unity of Fronts
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26355> strategy being implemented.

In short, the Imad-4 revelation compels the occupation state to reconsider
its decision on whether to engage in a full-scale war with Lebanon.
Hezbollah has shown that it can effectively operate under the radar,
outmaneuvering Israeli intelligence despite organizational and operational
setbacks due to targeted killings or strikes.

This media-savvy move changes the strategic calculus, leaving Israel with
difficult questions about the true extent of Hezbollah’s capabilities and
the effectiveness of its own intelligence-gathering operations.

Additionally, it demonstrates the importance of cognitive warfare
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26176> – a potent but often
underestimated tool in Hezbollah and the broader Resistance Axis’s arsenal.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20240819/99399040/attachment.htm>