Hezbollah and Israel: Who Really Needs a Ceasefire?

“The ceasefire on the Lebanese front is a strategic and humiliating defeat for the Zionist regime, which did not even come close to achieving any of its evil goals and ambitions in the war against Hezbollah.”

(Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami, Tasnim News Agency 28th November 2024)

Hezbollah and Israel: Who Really Needs a Ceasefire?

Operation “Arrows of the North” was launched by the Israeli Defence Force on the 24th September 2024 and struck more than 1,600 Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley as part of that campaign. The ground offensive began on the 1st October 2024 in an effort to return 60,000 displaced Israeli civilians to their northern homes after a year of relentless Hezbollah missile attacks on civilians.

The State of Israel and the Lebanese Iranian-backed and funded terrorist group Hezbollah signed a ceasefire[1] on the 26th November 2024 that was implemented on the 27th November 2024.

Hezbollah is an important proxy of the Islamic Republic of Iran or was up until 8th October 2023 when they began launching aerial attacks on Israel in support of the terrorist groups from the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

Prior to Operation Arrows of the North, in a tit-for-tat exchange Hezbollah began launching unmanned aerial munitions into Israel on the 8th October 2023. Israel retaliated by targeting Hezbollah sites and personnel. The Guardian announced on the 2nd October 2024 that the group had lost nearly 500 fighters since it started launching munitions into Israel in support of its ally, Hamas.

Attacking Israel in support of Hamas, Hezbollah forced approximately 60,000 Israelis to flee south and seek safety from Hezbollah rockets, missiles and drones that were targeting civilian populated areas.

Up until the 27th September 2024 Hezbollah had named 513 members killed during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. Another 88 operatives from other terror groups had also been killed. Israel had lost 26 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 22 Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldiers and reservists.

On the 30th November 2024 the IDF said it had confirmed with high confidence that since the conflict began between Hezbollah and Israel the deaths of 2,500 Hezbollah operatives had been reported, though it estimated that number to be closer to 3,500. Around 100 members of other terror groups have also been reported killed in Lebanon. (These numbers vary slightly depending on the open-source cited)

Israel's security cabinet had expanded its war objectives to include the safe return of evacuated residents to their homes in northern Israel, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on the 17th September 2024.

Operation “Arrows of the North” was launched on the 1st October 2024 in an effort to return 60,000 displaced Israeli civilians to their northern homes after a year of relentless Hezbollah missile attacks on civilians. Israel announced its ground invasion of south Lebanon in what it described as a “limited raid.”

Between the State of Israel and the Iranian proxy Hezbollah, who really needed the ceasefire?

Hezbollah Analysis

Professor Eliot Cohen a contributing writer at The Atlantic[2] wrote: Over the past year, after suffering a devastating surprise and brutal losses, Israel has achieved remarkable military successes. Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the greatest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, is dead. So, too, are most of his senior subordinates and military commanders. Hamas guerrillas harass Israeli soldiers in Gaza, but what had been an army of tens of thousands—organized into five light infantry brigades and more than two dozen battalions—has been shattered, with half of the fighters dead, by Israeli estimates, and many others wounded or in captivity.

Up north, the successes are no less dramatic. The charismatic and shrewd head of Lebanese Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, is dead. So is his successor. So is Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s most important military figure. And so is most of the rest of the high command. Thousands of exploding pagers, walkie-talkies, and laptops have killed or disabled their users in Hezbollah’s army, which was perhaps double the size of Hamas’s.

Most of Hezbollah’s inventory of 150,000 missiles and rockets has been destroyed—more than 80 percent, according to the Israelis—and the group’s ability to coordinate has been so fractured that instead of the feared volleys of 1,000 projectiles a day, it struggles to launch 50 or 100. The area along Israel’s border, in which Israeli soldiers have found stockpiles of anti-tank missiles and other weaponry in many of the houses, has been painstakingly cleared. Here, too, guerrillas are attacking Israel Defence Forces soldiers, but Hezbollah can no longer muster the large, complex military formations that were formerly more numerous, better trained, better equipped, and better led than their Hamas counterparts.

The Israeli high command now sees all of these conflicts as elements of a single, multifront war with Iran. It believes that the preparation for the Hamas attack was intimately tied to Hezbollah, which is, in turn, an Iranian proxy. It believes, moreover, that the purpose of these attacks, over the next few years, was not to inflict damage upon Israel, but to destroy it. “They thought they could conquer Israel,” one sobered general told me. “I had not fully understood that.” A Hezbollah attack would have followed the same pattern as Hamas’s assault—launched along the entire border, from an extensive tunnel system and mustering points concealed within civilian buildings. Had both attacks occurred simultaneously, Israel’s situation might well have been an order of magnitude more dire than it was on October 7.

Israel Actions Against Hezbollah

Since the last conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 both sides decided to prepare for what would be the inevitable next round of fighting between the two. During the 2006 occasion Israel did not fare to well against a well organised terrorist group. Both sides would develop a strategy that when the war came, both would be prepared.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah had built Hezbollah into a formidable force with the assistance of experts from Iran turning Hezbollah into a functioning and well organised terrorist army. Israel discovered that Hezbollah recognised the importance of its Command and Control (C2) procedures and their capabilities. The ability to relay orders, coordination between groups in order to have a maximum effect gave the Israelis tactical problems.

A very well organised Hezbollah hierarchal command structure was put into place. The group was equipped with advanced communication tools, intelligence technologies, operational plans, and emergency protocols. Some of Hezbollah’s capabilities were above ground, while others were hidden underground to evade Israeli intelligence and withstand airstrikes.

Major-General (res.) Yossi Baidatz[3] identified Hezbollah’s C2 systems as both a strength and a potential vulnerability in future conflicts. Baidatz believed that intelligence should be focused on prioritizing intelligence collection aimed at dismantling Hezbollah’s infrastructure. This intelligence effort, spanning years, culminated in a comprehensive dossier guarded closely to ensure Nasrallah remained unaware of Israel’s surveillance.

Ant-Work was used to collect and collate intelligence documents which over a long period of time gave the Israelis a platform of how Hezbollah used its C2 network. It was a long process but over a period of numerous years Israel was able to build a picture on how the Hezbollah C2 process worked and who was in the chain.

One IDF Major explained that “An organization like Hezbollah is comparable to a human body,” a combat navigator, explained. “It has a brain—senior commanders—and nerves for communication. Our mission in the C2 division is to disrupt this network. We targeted everything from Nasrallah to mid-level commanders.”

Israeli intelligence services gave birth to the idea of being able to supply Hezbollah with pagers and hand-held radios that would be issued to its commanders. Hezbollah was relying on these measures so that the Israeli’s could not monitor their conversations ensuring that their Communications Security (COMSEC) would not be compromised.

Pager Attack

On the 17th September 2024 Israel initiated a strike against Hezbollah C2. Israel had convinced Hezbollah to purchase and issue pagers that Israel had manufactured. Hand held radios had also been given to leading Hezbollah figures.

The pagers received a message saying that the receiver was going to receive an important message. The recipient held the pager, some with one hand and some with two. No message was transmitted, instead a small explosive device was initiated triggering a small explosion causing immense damage to the individual who was holding it at the time.

With Hezbollah appearing to prefer the use of pagers for internal communications over smartphones for security reasons, analysts said it appeared Israel had corrupted the devices before delivery, allowing them to explode at a specific time.

“For Israel to embed an explosive trigger within the new batch of pagers, they would have likely needed access to the supply chain of these devices.

It was estimated that the pager attack on Hezbollah killed 59 and injured 4,000 including Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani. Two hundred of those injured were thought to have been in a critical state.

In early November 2024 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly claimed responsibility for the pager attack for the first time.

Hand Held radio Attack

18th September 2024 a fresh wave of explosions of communications devices, including walkie-talkies, struck Hezbollah, killing 14 and wounding some 450, according to Lebanese health officials. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant spoke about "excellent achievements" by Israel's military and intelligence branches leading to "impressive results," but did not mention the device attacks of the previous two days.

Rocket Arsenal

The IDF estimated that “80% of Hezbollah’s rocket arsenal within a range of up to 40 kilometres’ has been destroyed.” Initially, Hezbollah had around 5,000 medium-range rockets, but fewer than 1,000 remain. The group’s stockpile of over 44,000 short-range rockets has also been reduced, with only about 10,000 still operational.

Most Hezbollah terrorists now launch rockets from vehicles, leading to “less accurate and unsynchronized targeting on a large scale.”

Defence sources estimate that Hezbollah entered the conflict with hundreds of precision-guided missiles and now has fewer than 100, including a limited number of coastal missiles.

The Jerusalem Post reported that The IDF believes Hezbollah’s capacity for daily rocket launches has been severely impacted by sustained Israeli airstrikes over the past 18 months. “This difficulty is due to not only destroyed weapons depots and launch sites but also command and control issues resulting from the loss of fighters and commanders,” defence officials said, adding that “Hezbollah’s reluctance to use cellular devices, pagers, and radios” has further disrupted their operations

Hezbollah Desertions

In October 2024 open-sources (London-based Saudi outlet, Elaph) were revealing that members of the Iranian-backed terrorist group were deserting. Those defecting, according to the source, are not reporting when summoned by senior terrorists and not waiting in their assigned locations. Other terrorists have reportedly fled to Syrian territory with their families, attempting to avoid any confrontation with Israel at close range.

Elaph’s “sources confirmed that the gaps in the units’ ability to communicate … facilitate the process of defection, especially for irregulars,” the paper reported. “The phenomenon of defection is particularly common on the southern front, but it may naturally expand to other areas,” it added.

On the 10th November 2024 the IDF presented data to Israel’s government showing damage to Hezbollah's forces and munitions.

According to the data, over 2,550 Hezbollah terrorists had been killed and more than 5,000 wounded in the conflict. Hezbollah attacks in Israel have killed 110 soldiers and civilians.

Hezbollah Top Officials Killed

This list is based on instances where Israel specifically aimed to kill terrorists, either before they could carry out an attack or as retribution for prior attacks. It does not include those who may have been killed in undisclosed operations. Source of the information provided is the “Israel Counter-Terrorism: Targeted Killing of Terrorists.”

Ibrahim Aqil who was the head of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force (A special operation forces unit of Hezbollah. Its main mission is to infiltrate the territory of Israel, with specific attention to Galilee and northern Israel) was killed on the 20th September 2024. The Radwan Force is a special operations unit in Hezbollah’s armed forces, tasked with launching offensive attacks into Israeli territory and capturing civilian communities in the Galilee. Ibrahim Aqil in April 1983, played a major role in Hezbollah’s bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut.

Israel targeted and killed Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in bombing of Hezbollah HQ on the 27th September 2024; increasingly believing it killed him. Reports of numerous casualties in multiple blasts that shook Lebanese capital Beirut. He was later confirmed dead.

Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, was identified as the potential successor to Nasrallah, he was killed on the 3rd October 2024.

8th January 2024 Wissam Al Tawil senior commander responsible for a local Radwan Brigade was killed.

Hassan Abeid al-Hussein Ismail head of Hezbollah’s drone operations killed on the 9th January 2024.

Ali Hussein Barj Commander of Hezbollah’s drone force was killed on the 9th January 2024.

Ali Muhammas al-Debes and Ibrahim Issa killed on the 15th February 2024. Al-Debes was commander of Hezbollah Radwan Force Issa was his deputy.

Hassan Saleh Hezbollah missile expert killed 22nd February 2024.

Ali Ahmad Hussein a commander in Hezbollah Radwan Force died on the 7th April 2024.

Ismail Yousef Baz and Muhammad Hussein Mustafa Shehour killed on the 16th April 2024. Baz was the commander of Hezbollah’s coastal district. In another strike Shehour was killed being the commander of one of the Radwan rocket and missile units.

Hussain Ibrahim was killed on the 14th May 2024 he was a senior field commander.

Ali Nasser Faran a Hezbollah terrorist killed on the 23rd May 2024. He was responsible for strategic and specialised weapons.

Taleb Abdallah and Hezbollah senior commander killed on the 12th Jun 2024.

Ali al-din a member of Hezbollah’s aeroal forces and behind drone attacks in the north of Israel was killed on the 27th June 2024

Muhammad Nimah Nasser commanded Hezbollah’s Aziz unit, one of the three regional divisions in the south of Lebanon, killed on the 3rd July 2024.

Meitam Mustafa Al Atar a Hezbollah air defence expert killed on the 7th July 2024.

Mustafa Hassan Salman an operative in Hezbollah’s rocket and missile unit killed on the 8th July 2024.

Yasser Nimer Qarnabash who was involved in weapons smuggling from Iran through Syria. He was also a former body guard to Hezbollah leader Nasrallah. Killed on the 9th July 2024.

Habib Maatouk Killed on the 18th July 2024. A senior commander in the Radwan force.

Faud Shukr, senior military commander and right-hand man to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Hussein Suleiman Member of the Hezbollah rocket and missile unit in southern Lebanon.

Muhammad Najam and Saeed Mahmoud Diad both individuals were part of the southern Lebanon rocket and missile unit. Killed on the 23rd August 2024.

20th September 2024 reported that 10 senior members of Hezbollah were killed when they were meeting in a building in Beirut. Ibrahim Aqil (Head of Hezbollah Radwan force), Samer Abdul-Halim Halawi (commanded the coastal area), Abbas Sami Maslamani (Qana area Hajazi the Ramim Ridge area), Abdullah Abbas Hajazi, Muhammed Ahmad, Hassan Hussein Madi, Hassan Yussof Abad Alssata (responsible for the Radwan force operations), Hussein Ahmad Dahraj (Chief of Staff of the Radwan force) and Ahmed Wahbi (oversaw the military operations of the Radwan). Several others were also killed during the operation.

Ibrahim Qubaisi Commander of Hezbollah’s rocket division was killed on the 24th September 2024.

Mohammed Srur who was responsible for Hezbollah’s drone fleet, cruise missiles and air defences was killed on the 26th September.

Hassan Nasrallah and Ali Karaki, Abbas Nilforushan were killed on the 27th September 2024. Nasrallah was Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, Karaki Hezbollah’s southern front commander and Nilforushan was the commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards in Syria and Lebanon.

Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine (responsible for coordinating activities in Lebanon with Hezbollah operatives), Eid Hassan (commander of Hezbollah’s medium-range rocket array), Abdul Raham Abdel Aal (leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ((PFLP) in Lebanon). Killed on the 30th September 2024.

Hashem Safieddine (Head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council and who was identified as a possible successor to Nasrallah) and Khider al-Shaebia (Al-Shaebia orchestrated the rocket attack on Majdel Shams that killed 12 children and teenagers who were playing football). Killed on the 3rd October 2024.

Suhail Hussein Husseini a member of Hezbollah’s Jihad Council, participated in weapon transfers between Hezbollah and Iran and responsible for distributing the advanced weaponry among Hezbollah units. Killed on the 8th October 2024.

Adham Jahout passed information from the Syrian regime officials to Hezbollah. Killed on the 9th October 2024.

Ahmad Moustafa al-Haj Ali commander of the Hezbollah’s Houla Front and Mohammad Ali Hamden who was the commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank unit in the Meiss El Jabel area.

Hezbollah and Iranian Delusional Propaganda

Interestingly to note how propaganda turns Hezbollah into the victim.

Hezbollah had not formally commented on the ceasefire but senior official Hassan Fadlallah told Lebanon’s Al Jadeed TV that while it supported the extension of the Lebanese state’s authority, the group would emerge from the war stronger. “Thousands will join the resistance ... Disarming the resistance was an Israeli proposal that fell through.”

Lebanese terror group Hezbollah says it has achieved “victory” over Israel and that its fighters are at the ready after a truce between the two sides took effect.

“Victory from God almighty was the ally of the righteous cause,” a statement from the Iran-backed group said, adding that its fighters “will remain in total readiness to deal with the Israeli enemy’s ambitions and its attacks.”

Tehran Times; Israel's dreams shattered: A ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel has thrown a spotlight on the Tel Aviv regime’s desperation and its inability to accomplish military objectives in the war on Lebanon. Hezbollah has accepted the proposal. But Lebanese and Hezbollah officials rejected Netanyahu’s demand for freedom of action against the movement.

“We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state. Any violation of sovereignty is refused,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told Al Jazeera. (Author: Who started the war against Israel on the 8th October 2023?)

But the Netanyahu regime has not only failed to return the evacuated Israelis to their residences but also Hezbollah has intensified attacks on strategic targets inside Israel.

Tehran Times; Hezbollah emerges victorious, humiliates US and Israel: After two full months of uninterrupted Israeli attacks on civilians and Hezbollah forces, a ceasefire came into effect in Lebanon due to the heroism of Hezbollah fighters and the resilience of the Lebanese people.

It is worth noting that the Israeli enemy was the one who initially sent the US envoy to Beirut, requesting negotiations as a result of the resistance’s heroism and legendary steadfastness.

Tehran Times; How Hezbollah stunned the Israeli regime: The Lebanese resistance Hezbollah executed a military strategy to pressure the Israeli regime into ending its bombing campaign against civilians and accept a ceasefire.

Before escalating its military campaign on Lebanon to a full-scale war, Hezbollah had already captured the most sensitive sites in Israel. Hezbollah released a series of videos that only published a tiny fraction of its UAVs capturing reconnaissance footage of sites critical to the survival of the Israeli occupation. These included Haifa and the occupied Golan Heights. The footage of Haifa was taken back in June. Fast forward to mid-October, Haifa came under almost daily Hezbollah attacks targeting different military bases, including Israeli naval bases.

Experts believe that Hezbollah refrained from publishing other sensitive sites in Israel in what became known as the Hodhod series of footage that was released later in stages.

On the ground in Southern Lebanon, the Israeli invasion faced fierce Hezbollah resistance, which prevented the occupation army from taking control of a single village on the Lebanese border.

(According to the Jerusalem Post on the 26th November 2024 IDF troops reached Litani River some 25-30 kilometres inside Lebanon for first time in nearly two decades. Following intelligence information, troops carried out raids on numerous terror infrastructures and weapons that had been stowed in the area)

Tasnim News Agency; Iran Welcomes Truce in Lebanon: The Iranian Foreign Ministry welcomed a halt to the Israeli regime’s onslaught on Lebanon, reaffirming Iran’s resolute support for the Lebanese government, nation and resistance. In a statement on Wednesday morning, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei highlighted Iran's longstanding position on the necessity of an immediate halt to the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

He detailed Iran's extensive diplomatic efforts over the past 14 months to achieve the goal.

(According to an article in the Washington Post; “Some in Hezbollah Say Iran Failed to Come to Their Aid”: "Support from other members of the resistance axis, including Yemen and Iraq, was minimal at best," said an individual close to Hezbollah and familiar with the group's thinking. He blamed Iran for not providing more support during the war and said Hezbollah had expected other Iran-backed groups to relieve some of the pressure by ramping up their own attacks on Israel. "Tehran was unwilling to escalate the situation," he said)

Tasnim News Agency; Lebanon Truce is a Victory for Hezbollah: Ex-IRGC Quds Force Chief: A former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Quds Force described the ceasefire in Lebanon as a confident declaration of victory for Hezbollah and a dismal defeat for Israel.

Despite the brutal bombardment of Beirut and southern Lebanon, the Israeli regime failed to inflict any substantive damage on Hezbollah during the past two months and could not either penetrate into Lebanon for more than hundreds of meters, a kilometre at most, mainly because of the traps laid by Hezbollah, he added.

Highlighting the Israeli regime’s abject defeat in the ground war, General Vahidi said, “Although the Zionist regime had been hitting the Lebanese residential areas and people with missiles and bombs, it faced Hezbollah’s precise missiles and drones in response that were being launched in considerable amounts and with precision.”

Islamic Students News Agency (ISNA); Iran welcomes end of Tel Aviv's aggression against Lebanon: Baghaei welcomed the news of the cessation of aggression by the Zionist regime against Lebanon on Wednesday, emphasizing the unwavering support of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the Lebanese government, people, and Resistance.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently emphasized the need for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and Lebanon, he said, adding that in the past 14 months, they have engaged in extensive diplomatic efforts to achieve this goal.

He said that the result of the warmongering and crimes committed by the Zionist regime, which has been supported fully by the United States and certain European governments, is the martyrdom of 60,000 innocent people, the wounding of 120,000 individuals, and the displacement of over 3.5 million oppressed people in Palestine and Lebanon, as well as the widespread destruction of vital infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

Israeli losses through Hezbollah according to the Tehran Times: Hezbollah has damaged at least 9,000 buildings and at least 7,000 vehicles. The full extent of the damage caused by Hezbollah has not been revealed. The figures only relate to northern settlements. Hezbollah’s missiles, rockets, and drones have inflicted significant damage to the Israeli industrial city of Haifa, the regime’s commercial hub, Tel Aviv, and other major cities.

Iran propaganda being used to accuse Israel that they are not revealing the true extent of Hezbollah’s 'victory' therefore denying that Hezbollah have lost against Israel. Israel has a free and uncensored press unlike Iran who has a state-controlled media and press outlet which is used by the Tehran government to not show the truth when it is not in favour of Iran and its proxies.

The final word (and there are many more) of Iranian and Hezbollah propaganda comes from the deceased Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah son, Muhammad Mahdi Nasrallah. Quote: "Praise be to Allah, who allowed us – the family of the master of the nation's martyrs – to share [the experience] of these brave, steadfast, and sacrificing people, through the most pure blood, by being displaced from our homes, through our homes that were destroyed, and by staying in Lebanon, from the first day of the war, and until the victory was declared. We say: 'Blessed be Allah, lord of the Universe. Are you pleased [with our sacrifices], oh Lord? Take more until You are pleased. We congratulate you on this precious victory."

Israeli Losses

Between the 1st October and the 27th November 2024, Hezbollah caused significant damage in Israel. They fired 340 missiles and drones, resulting in severe damage in Tel Aviv and wounding 11 people. Additionally, around 5,683 acres of land in Israel were burned.

Here’s a look at the conflict by the numbers:

More than 3,800 people in Lebanon have been killed, many of them civilians. More than 80 Israeli soldiers have been killed, and 47 civilians in Israel.

Damage in Lebanon is estimated at $8.5 billion including at least 100,000 homes. In Israel, around 5,683 acres of land have burned.

An estimated 1.2 million people are displaced in Lebanon and approximately 60,000 in Israel.

Israel has made around 14,000 strikes in Lebanon, while Hezbollah has made more than 2,000 on Israel.

Times of Israel; Over 12,500 targets hit, some 25,000 weapons seized: IDF publishes data of conflict with Hezbollah: Over 12,500 targets hit, some 25,000 weapons seized: IDF publishes data of conflict with Hezbollah

The IDF published a summary of its activities against Hezbollah in the past 14 months, as a ceasefire between Israel and the terror group appears to hold.

Over 12,500 Hezbollah targets were struck, including 1,600 command centres and 1,000 weapons depots, according to the military.

During the ground offensive, 14 IDF brigade-level task forces participated, and separately, over 100 special operations were carried out.

The IDF says it has confirmed with high confidence the deaths of 2,500 Hezbollah operatives, though it estimates that number to be around 3,500.

Among the dead are Hezbollah’s former longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and 13 members of the terror group’s top leadership.

Also among the dead are four Hezbollah commanders at the division level, 24 brigade-level commanders, 27 battalion-level commanders, 63 company-level commanders, and 22 platoon-level commanders.

The IDF says it has captured some 12,000 explosive devices and drones; 13,000 rockets, launchers, and anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile systems; and 121,000 pieces of communications equipment and computers.

The Times of Israel reported hours before the ceasefire took place that; IDF says it hit Hezbollah’s largest precision missile production site hours before truce. Military says underground complex that stretched for 1.4 kilometres was terror group’s most strategically significant weapons-making site.

The missile manufacturing plant was built several years ago with Iranian support, the IDF said. It was used by Hezbollah to build precision surface-to-surface missiles and other weapons, as well as to store the guided missiles. The IDF said that Iranian operatives also worked at the facility alongside Hezbollah.

Its proximity to Syria allowed Hezbollah to smuggle into Lebanon thousands of components to build the precision missiles, as well as for operatives to travel between Syria and Lebanon, according to the statement.

“This was Hezbollah’s most strategically significant production facility in Lebanon targeted during the war. The strike was made possible by a precise intelligence file that was collected and built over the years,” the IDF said.

The Question?

Between the State of Israel and the Iranian proxy Hezbollah, who really needed the ceasefire?

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Paul Ashley

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Further Information:

[1]??????? Full Lebanon ceasefire agreement revealed

Deal outlines new demarcation dubbed '2024 line,' redefining zones where Hezbollah is barred and where Lebanese army must dismantle unauthorized facilities. While UNIFIL and European nations previously led international military oversight in Lebanon, US now assumes some key commitments.

[2]??????? The Atlantic

The Atlantic is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.

[3]??????? Major-General (res.) Yossi Baidatz

Former Northern Corps Commander

Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yossi Bachar served as commander of the General Staff Corps. Prior to that, he served as Deputy Commander of the Southern Command and as Commander of the School for Command, Control and Operational Staff of the Land Forces, Commander of the Gaza Division, Commander of the Galilee and Commander of the Paratroopers Brigade.