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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Hezbollah: Rockets fired into Israel directed by Iran |
| 2007-05-08 |
| All of Hezbollah's policies and activities are coordinated with the leadership of Iran, including the firing of rockets into Israeli population centers for which direct Iranian approval is required, said a senior Hezbollah official in a rare admission. "Even when it comes to firing rockets on Israeli civilians, when they [Israel] bombed the civilians on our side, even that decision requires an in-principle permission from [the ruling jurisprudent]," said Sheikh Naim Qassem, the deputy chief of Hezbollah, in an Arabic language interview translated yesterday by the Information and Terrorism Center at Israel's Center for Special Studies. According to the Center, "the ruling jurisprudent," or "al-wali al-faqih" in Arabic, is the title of Supreme Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In the interview, given last month to the Al-Kawthar, Iranian Arabic-language TV channel, Qassem says Khamenei's authority is crucial for all Hezbollah operations: "Hezbollah relied and relies still in its Islamic religious position, which has to do with its activity in general and its jihadist activity in particular, on the decision of (Khamenei). The ruling jurisprudent is the one who allows and the one who prohibits." He said Khamenei approves acts suicide terror. "We ask, receive answers, and then apply [them]. This is even true for acts of suicide for the sake of Allah – no one may kill himself without a jurisprudent permission (from Khamenei)." During Israel's war in Lebanon last summer, Hezbollah fired over 3,000 rockets into Israeli civilian population centers, killing 43 civilians and injuring thousands. There were multiple reports, denied by Hezbollah, of Iranian officers operating in Lebanon to aid the militia. Qassem's statements come as Israeli defense officials told WND this weekend Hezbollah has replenished its rocket arsenal and is stronger now than before last summer's war. According to the officials, Hezbollah, aided by Iran, is preparing for another conflict with the Jewish state. In an interview Saturday with Al Jazeera, Hezbollah's Qassem admitted his group rebuilt its militia and is ready for war. He claimed Israel will attack first. "We have new military plans. We have completed our ground work in preparing our men, as well as our land, so that we would be ready if the Israeli government thought one day (of launching an attack)," said Qassem. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #5 I didn't say that all the launchers were hit in first 39 minutes, but the most of them. That is what some Israeli source says, and the fact is that there were few large missiles fired. I can find the link if anyone is interested. Silkworm missile is a an anti-ship missile, and I don't think that it was a threat for civilian targets. Maybe it was not the priority target. Katyusha is a primitive weapon launched from rails which are mounted on vehicles, far as I know. Hizbullah can move them south of Litani. But, former network of bunkers there is destroyed now, and IDF could have more freedom of movement when hunting for them. Couple of days ago there was an article on this site in which some Hizbullah person bosts that they have new lines of defense north of Litani. He obviously considers it an achievment. DG |
| Posted by: trenchsol 2007-05-08 13:54 |
| #4 DG, I'm not sure I agree with your assessment. Here are just two examples of rockets fired several days after fighting began: 14 Jul 06: The Israeli SAAR-5 Corvette Ahi-Hanit was hit and badly damaged with an (assessed) C-802 type shore-to-ship missile. Four crewmen were killed. 31 Jul 06: 302mm rocket (range around 100km, 175kg warhead) landed in Afula. Three more landed near Hadera, around 70km inside Israel, on 04 Aug 07). More to the point, just because 107s are cheap, short range and inaccurate, it doesn't mean that they're not an effective weapon. The fact that they're small and cheap allowed Hezbollah to fire over 1,500 of them. Forty-three civilians were killed by rocket fire during the war, as were several soldiers. A low number of deaths, you may argue, but the civilian population in the north was clearly scared. Also, I'm not sure that your 39 minutes claim is accurate. This seems rather quick, given that it took the Israelis an hour to get over the border, where they took one hell of pasting and spent several hours attempting to recover the remains of a tank crew... Perhaps the most significant point I can make is that rockets are not good targets for commandos. We saw previously that once troops are put on the ground in a pre-prepared battle-ground they will be engaged with an effective combination of small arms, ATGWs, IEDs, MANPADS... Do not underestimate the rocket threat! I hope this helps. TH. |
| Posted by: Bertie Thraimble9323 2007-05-08 12:06 |
| #3 The admission by Hezbollah that all of their activities are coordinated with the leadership of Iran is very uncharacteristic indeed. One should consider the source of this information and flesh out wheather it is translation or speculation. The Information and Terrorism Center at Israel's Center for Special Studies. Part of their usual Mission statement: "We in the Center for Special Studies are dedicated not only to commemorating the fallen of the Israeli intelligence community and to preserving its heritage but no less to harnessing the accumulated capabilities of our veterans to serve the current needs of truth- seeking audiences. Thus, as we look to the past, we make an effort to disseminate information contributing to the current war on terrorism." Full report |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2007-05-08 08:53 |
| #2 trenchsol, I find it hard to believe that Hizb'allah has no launchers emplaced south of the Litani river, just because the ceasefire agreement said they mustn't. It's not as if the UN troops stopped them from doing anything at all, nor the Lebanese army for the first few months, nor would I expect the villagers to be able to stand up to Hizb'allah's armed bully boys returning to old haunts. Not that I expect them to be any more effective the second time around, although admittedly I have no expertise in such things whatsoever (we have to go back to my grandfather's Iron Cross in WWI for my family's most recent fighting experience -- the Dutch Underground (Mama) and chemist for pre-Independence Haganah (Daddy) don't really count, nor Mr. Wife's studying various martial arts styles). |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-05-08 07:01 |
| #1 Iranian-Hizbullah rocket effort was futile. In first 39 minutes of 2006 summer war most of the long range rocket launchers were destroyed by IDF. That left Hizbullah with cheap, short range and inaccurate Katyusha rockets. Hizbullah was hardly able to hit anything firing Katyusha from Israeli border. Now, they would have to fire from positions north of Litani river, which will make Katyushas even less useful. I think that Qassem speech is nothing but an empty rethorics. In some future conflict, IDF would destroy heavy launchers again, which make good targets for airstrikes and commandos. DG |
| Posted by: trenchsol 2007-05-08 06:45 |