Military and strategic analyst Colonel Hatem Karim Al-Falahi warned that Israel is heading towards a real impasse in its current war on Hezbollah, despite the intensity of its air strikes, stressing that a political solution must be a priority.
Al-Falahi explained – during the military analysis section – that the Israeli army, exhausted in confronting Gaza, is facing a different geography and greater capabilities of Hezbollah in Lebanon compared to the Palestinian factions, considering that the option of ground operations will not achieve Tel Aviv’s declared goals, whether by securing its northern front, pushing the party behind the Litani River, or separating the Lebanese and Gaza fronts.
He pointed out that Hezbollah’s possession of a huge missile arsenal, some with a range of 500 km and others with anti-tank missiles with a range exceeding 5 km, means that it is able to attack Israel from rear areas far from the border, and that any ground operation inside Lebanese territory will not be a walk in the park due to the rugged terrain.
Al-Falahi said that Hezbollah may have absorbed the force of the first strike that hit a wide bank of targets, but its real response has not yet come, warning of the possibility of a dangerous escalation that may include strategic centers inside Israel and put it in an embarrassing position.
Hezbollah’s capabilities
The expert ruled out the possibility of resolving the battle through air strikes alone, pointing to the experiences of previous wars that demonstrated the role of ground forces in the final decision, in addition to Hezbollah’s ability to absorb strikes and compensate for human losses due to its organizational nature.
In this context, Al-Falahi criticized the exaggerated Israeli statements about the extent of the damage inflicted on Hezbollah, considering them inaccurate in light of its possession of more than 150,000 various missiles.
The expert also ruled out the possibility of exhausting Hezbollah’s capabilities through air strikes within days, considering that it still has several cards such as drones and smart missiles that will appear successively as the confrontation continues, warning that the expansion of the Israeli bombing to extend to areas 100 km deep inside Lebanon may push the party to reveal more of its great missile capabilities.
He stressed that the coming days will put Hezbollah’s capabilities to the test, and new options will emerge for it in confronting the Israeli military machine.