Tel Aviv Tribune’s Ramallah bureau chief Walid Al-Omari said that Israel believes that through its successive operations in recent days against the Lebanese Hezbollah, it has sent a clear message: changing the rules, and that it no longer has any red lines.
Hezbollah mourned two military commanders and 14 fighters who were killed in the Israeli raid on the southern suburbs of Beirut yesterday, Friday. They were Commander Ahmed Wahbi, who was in charge of the “Radwan Force” until early 2024, and Military Commander Ibrahim Aqil.
Hezbollah had previously threatened Israel with “severe punishment” in response to an attack that caused the explosion of thousands of wireless pagers in Lebanon, which the party relies on for its communications, stressing that it would continue its daily operations at the same time to support the Gaza Strip in the face of the Israeli war.
According to Walid, Israel believes that through the strikes it has directed at Hezbollah over the past few days, it has succeeded in achieving “tremendous achievements” and in changing the rules of engagement. The message it is sending is that it no longer has red lines to continue its war, and that Hezbollah must choose: either to stop the war of attrition once and for all and separate its equation from the Gaza Strip, or to accept what Israel calls the American approach to a political settlement in Lebanon.
As for the second option, Israel will continue its operations against Lebanon, even if it leads to a comprehensive war in the region.
According to their statements, the Israelis believe that they succeeded in eliminating the military leadership of Hezbollah, represented by the leadership of the “Radwan Force,” and that they “thwarted a plan that they were studying and intending to implement to begin launching ground invasion operations in the Galilee region, similar to what the Palestinian resistance did in the Gaza Strip on October 7th.”
Israel also believes that the strikes it has directed at Hezbollah will deter it and prevent it from continuing its operations, and may force it to separate the position on the northern front from its support and backing for the Gaza Strip. Walid expects that Israel will continue its operations in the coming days.
The Tel Aviv Tribune bureau chief pointed out – in his intervention on Tel Aviv Tribune – that the Israeli military leadership and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted, through their official announcement of the liquidation of the leadership of the “Radwan Force” affiliated with Hezbollah, to send a message that Israel is capable of continuing the war against Lebanon during the next stage.
Regarding the news that the Israeli radio reported at dawn today about the assassination of Aqil, he said that it came based on intelligence information from a reliable source – according to them – that Aqil was preparing to chair a meeting with the leadership of Al-Radwan, and the plan was drawn up and the decision was made, and it was quickly approved by the Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and the first statement was issued by the Israeli army, then by the Chief of Staff and Minister of Defense Yoav Galant, and then by Netanyahu.
The Israeli radio reported that the assassination plan was scheduled and put into effect in a short time and was approved by the Chief of Staff, noting that a reliable intelligence source conveyed information about a meeting of the leaders of the Radwan Brigade, which led the army to carry out the assassination operation.