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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| IDF: Terrorists running out of rockets |
| 2006-07-24 |
| IDF Military Intelligence (MI) believes the army has 10 days left before diplomatic pressure puts an end to Operation Change of Direction against Hizbullah, The Jerusalem Post learned on Sunday. In addition, MI - reflecting its latest strategic assessment - believes that the Islamist group has already been dealt a severe blow by the IDF operation launched 12 days ago, and that within a month it will run out of Katyusha rockets to fire at Israel. Hizbullah is organized along military lines, with regional commands in southern, northern and central Lebanon. The unit in the south, called the "Katyusha Unit" by the IDF, consists of some 1,000 fighters who have been responsible for most of the rocket attacks on communities north of Acre and Amiad. The unit has been able to recruit reserves, but MI has noticed that it has run into difficulty convincing members of the terror group who reside in northern Lebanon to travel south to participate in the fighting. Once the unit exhausts the missiles currently in its possession, it will, MI believes, have difficulty acquiring more, since most of the roads and supply routes have been destroyed by the IDF. Several Syrian and Iranian attempts to send supplies to Hizbullah have been thwarted by the IDF. North of the Litani River, Hizbullah operates a unit called the "medium-range rocket unit" believed to be responsible for firing Katyushas at Haifa and Israel's northern coast. Most of that unit's missiles were supplied by Syria prior to the current conflict. This unit is also believed to have an arsenal of long-range rockets - Iranian-made Fajr 5 and Zelzal missiles capable of reaching targets 200 km. away. Hizbullah still has several functioning military command centers in different regions in Lebanon, according to MI assessments. Officials in these centers are still able to command Hizbullah's men in the field. Military Intelligence has set up a team to oversee targeted killings of Hizbullah officials, but the unit has had limited success. MI does not believe that killing Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah would necessarily end the conflict. MI believes that Hizbullah has been dealt a "critical blow" to its image in Lebanon and throughout the Arab world. Lebanese leaders blame Nasrallah for provoking Israel and "bringing a disaster upon their country," MI believes. Hizbullah also reportedly has three units charged with intelligence operations. One unit is in charge of espionage against Israel, including the recruitment of agents who gather intelligence on IDF bases and other strategic installations. A unit called "1800" is reportedly responsible for the recruitment of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. There is also reportedly a third unit, in charge of counter-intelligence operations. |
| Posted by:Slolutch Omavising4399 |
| #15 IDF has tried and maybe successfully cut the suppy lines for HEZ weapons. They have a navy presence at sea. They have bombed the airport. They have bombed the roads to Syria. They have bombed bridges. If there is a cease fire--I don't know if the IDF can control resupply of rockets and other weapons. It depends if the rest of the world takes off the blinders and steps up to the plate. A lot of people don't yet realize this is WW III. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2006-07-24 21:42 |
| #14 Replace HB with "Shi'a militias". |
| Posted by: mrp 2006-07-24 19:52 |
| #13 Do we have enough power in the Persian Gulf theater to take on HB, Iran, and Syria simultaneously after an Iranian-Syrian first strike against US forces in Iraq and Kuwait? |
| Posted by: mrp 2006-07-24 19:48 |
| #12 what's keeping HB from mounting chem and bio weapons on their Fajrs besides the IRG's say-so? Perhaps that's the plan for August 22nd. Or they were never given any, or Israel already blew them up, or Nasrullah's command-and-control is as out of commission as he is. Or, someone critical got the message that if WMD were used, the US would not stop at the Iraqi border. But I'm just guessing -- nobody tells little suburban housewives anything important. ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-07-24 19:15 |
| #11 We'll know HB is running out of rockets when they start launching Estes "X-Ray"s. On a more dour note, what's keeping HB from mounting chem and bio weapons on their Fajrs besides the IRG's say-so? |
| Posted by: mrp 2006-07-24 16:52 |
| #10 What's the point? How long will it take Syria / Iran to resupply? Gotta remove the source. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2006-07-24 14:56 |
| #9 As Israel steps up her search and destroy missions in Lebanon, I expect that the pace of the "inventory depletion" will pick up. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2006-07-24 13:11 |
| #8 If Hezb still has 30 days of rockets left, I wouldn't say they are running out of rockets. More like depleting inventory. |
| Posted by: mhw 2006-07-24 11:54 |
| #7 I love when a plan comes together. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2006-07-24 11:53 |
| #6 I'll bet that makes for some lively fireworks shows as it's cheaper than some of the more elaborate rounds... :) |
| Posted by: Champ Angeger5024 2006-07-24 11:11 |
| #5 Bulgarian prices... |
| Posted by: Clerert Uneamp2772 2006-07-24 11:07 |
| #4 Ok. I'm no military expert but if MI knows where these 'command centers' are why doesnt the IDF destroy them? Are they too dug in or is Israel not really taking the gloves off like we'd hoped here at Rantburg. |
| Posted by: JAB 2006-07-24 11:00 |
| #3 The trick is to make sure that Hezbollah runs out of rocketeers as well as rockets. |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-07-24 10:53 |
| #2 Where does that value come from? Did you check eBay, Clerert? |
| Posted by: Champ Angeger5024 2006-07-24 09:40 |
| #1 A Grad rocket costs 200$ |
| Posted by: Clerert Uneamp2772 2006-07-24 09:35 |