Thursday, March 28th | 18 Adar II 5784

Subscribe
December 10, 2018 9:43 am
0

The Fog of War Can’t Conceal Hezbollah’s Plotting

× [contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"]

avatar by Yoav Limor / JNS.org

Opinion

UNIFIL peacekeepers patrol the border with Israel near the Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Dec. 4, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Ali Hashisho.

JNS.orgNorthern Israel was covered by thick fog over ‎the weekend, with near-zero visibility. The ‎rain came and went, mostly drizzling and ‎turning everything that was not concrete into mud. ‎

Someone just passing through would probably be ‎unable to tell anything was wrong, or that the entire area ‎was on edge. The partial military restrictions ‎imposed on a section of the border when Operation ‎Northern Shield was launched last week have already ‎been lifted, and nothing could be seen of a military ‎presence beyond the sporadic military vehicle ‎driving around. For all intents and purposes, this ‎was just another rainy Saturday in northern Israel. ‎

This facade, however, successfully hid the IDF’s nonstop ‎efforts to ‎neutralize Hezbollah terror tunnels snaking under ‎the Israel-Lebanon border.‎

The decision to continue the search for tunnels over ‎the weekend was unorthodox, and not only because it ‎involved operations on Shabbat. The work was hindered ‎by the stormy weather, but the complex engineering ‎and logistics effort involved in this intense ‎operation never waned. If anything, the IDF kept ‎pushing and everyone — from GOC Northern Command ‎Maj. Gen. Yoel Strick to the last special combat ‎engineering soldier deployed on the ground — seemed ‎to be accelerating the pace.‎

A security incident interrupted the work on Saturday, ‎when IDF commandos securing the operation came ‎across three Hezbollah operatives trying to exploit ‎the fog to steal technical equipment. The troops ‎opened fire and the three fled, but the incident ‎stressed the prudence of increasing military ‎deployment along the border, as the threat is very ‎real. ‎

Hezbollah may be biding its time quietly at the moment, but it may very well retaliate — not just verbally (though Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah is sure to give a fiery speech eventually) — but also physically, on the battlefield. There is real concern ‎that Hezbollah operatives could booby-trap one of the ‎tunnels, plant roadside bombs, or ‎try to target the Israeli troops with sniper fire. ‎These scenarios are passed on to the soldiers in ‎every security briefing.

But the military effort on the ground is only part of ‎the overall effort. In the background, the Israeli ‎Air Force is gearing up for potential escalation, and ‎Military Intelligence is fully engaged as well.

Another important aspect is the international diplomatic effort, in which Israel engages in ‎massive public diplomacy. ‎Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been briefing ‎world leaders on the issue since last week, ‎including — and perhaps most importantly — Russian ‎President Vladimir Putin.‎ The United Nations Security Council is expected to ‎discuss a draft resolution condemning Lebanon on ‎Monday over the fact that it turns a blind eye to ‎Hezbollah’s activities. Israel would like to see ‎Russia refrain from using its veto power on the ‎issue.‎

Israel would also like to see international pressure on the Lebanese government stir up a ‎public debate in that country, and prompt criticism of ‎the Shiite terrorist group despite the considerable ‎political power it wields. Lebanon has so far ‎remained indifferent, but it is doubtful whether ‎Beirut can keep that up for long. Operation ‎Northern Shield is expected to last several weeks, ‎and the daily media attention to the issue will turn ‎the spotlight on Lebanon’s actions or lack thereof. ‎

Still, nothing essential is likely to change, ‎except, of course, for the fact that Israel has deprived ‎Hezbollah of a major strategic asset. This cannot be ‎taken lightly, as one need not have a particularly ‎wild imagination to understand what Hezbollah had ‎planned for Metula and other Israeli communities ‎along the border. Some of the tunnels were on the ‎verge of becoming operational in the coming weeks. If an attack had been launched using those tunnels, the first question for the ‎political echelon and the IDF would have been, “If ‎you knew, why didn’t you do anything?”‎

Yoav Limor is a veteran Israeli journalist and columnist for Israel Hayom.

The opinions presented by Algemeiner bloggers are solely theirs and do not represent those of The Algemeiner, its publishers or editors. If you would like to share your views with a blog post on The Algemeiner, please be in touch through our Contact page.

Share this Story: Share On Facebook Share On Twitter

Let your voice be heard!

Join the Algemeiner

Algemeiner.com

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.