Earlier today, Hezbollah, presumably along with Hamas and other Palestinian jihadist factions in southern Lebanon, launched a barrage of 30 rockets in the span of one hour into Northern Israel. This was the largest barrage since October 7th, when Israel’s war with Hamas broke out. To my mind, this is a major escalation to the north.
A key point here is that Hamas, which also has a presence in southern Lebanon under the watchful eye of Hezbollah, said it launched 16 of those rockets. Presumably, Hezbollah launched the rest.
Whatever the case, Israel responded by directly targeting Hezbollah. If Hamas is operating in southern Lebanon, it’s with the full approval of Hezbollah. Israel went straight to the source, carrying out air strikes and shelling against Hezbollah’s infrastructure.
This is no joke. This was 30 rockets in one hour from the north, where Hezbollah has a powerful arsenal of some 150,000 rockets and missiles pointed at every inch of Israel.
After the rocket launches, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including a site housing “technological assets,” a weapons depot, rocket launch positions, and other infrastructure.
Is Hezbollah Being Pressured To Jump Into The War?
Why is this so important? It comes on the heels of what was a pretty major event on Friday: the much-anticipated speech given by none other than terror master Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah. During that speech, Nasrallah engaged in the typical rhetoric, with threats against the United States and threats against Israel. Overall, it was a dud, considering all the anticipation built up around it.
That’s actually a good thing. A lot of people were saying that Nasrallah may very well declare war against Israel during this speech. That didn’t happen.
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What was interesting to me about Nasrallah’s speech on Friday was his insistence that everything that happened in Gaza was completely Hamas. October 7th, he said, was Hamas’s planning and acting by its own volition. Nasrallah applauded the massacre, saying that Hezbollah views it as one of the greatest days in history, but stressed that it was strictly Hamas.
He did state Hezbollah’s intention to escalate increasingly the more Israel tightens the vise around Hamas and Gaza. Was the barrage of 30 rockets in one hour, Hezbollah “upping the ante” so to speak?
It’s not that Hezbollah has completely pulled its punches. Israeli soldiers have been killed in the engagements with Hezbollah along the border over the past four weeks; at least 11 Israelis have died. Over 50 Fighters have been killed by the Israel Defense Forces in these daily engagements as well.
Hezbollah has a much more powerful, advanced, and well-trained fighting force than Hamas. Do the math. One hundred fifty thousand rockets and missiles pointed at every inch of the world’s one and only Jewish State, and at least 40-50,000 well-trained battle-hardened foot soldiers. Hezbollah is a different beast, and I do mean beast, than Hamas.
We saw the damage Hamas did on October 7th. Picture that multiplied by several times, and that is what you have in the form of Hezbollah. Which begs the question, does Nasrallah feel the pressure to activate that Northern front?
Hezbollah is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Iranian regime. Do Hezbollah and the Iranian regime step back and watch as their brother in arms, their terror ally, Hamas, is wiped off the face of the Earth by the IDF? Hamas has been a very valuable asset to Iran, to Hezbollah, and to the jihadist cause. Do Iran and Hezbollah let that fall by the wayside and lose that crucial tool in their Jihadi terror toolbox? Do they allow Islamic Jihad to be eliminated in Gaza? Or do they jump in?
Will Israel Act Preemptively?
Another question is, will Israel act preemptively? Israel really ultimately has no choice; the Day of Reckoning is coming between themselves and Hezbollah. Israel may be forced, sooner rather than later, to face off against Hezbollah and the Iranian regime in Lebanon and in Syria.
Israel is on war footing, having called up over 300,000 reserve soldiers to be on the front lines in Gaza and also positioned in the north.
Over 30 Israeli communities in the north along the Lebanon border have been evacuated, with hundreds of thousands of Israelis displaced. The memory of October 7th is fresh in everyone’s mind. Seeing what Hamas did down south along the Gaza border, and given Hezbollah is much more powerful, would you not feel very uneasy living along the Border of Lebanon unless Hezbollah is defeated?
Israel has some very tough decisions to make.
Pray for the IDF that God would give them wisdom, protection, and discernment. Pray for innocent civilians in Israel who are still being bombarded by rockets. Pray for Palestinians in Gaza who are being used as human Shields by Hamas, who have no regard for human life. These are demonic Nazis and barbarians—I do not say that lightly. Lastly, pray for the hostages; for a miraculous God-ordained rescue so that they can come home safely to their families.
Erick Stakelbeck is an author, analyst, host of “The Watchman” program, and the Director of Christians United for Israel’s CUFI Watchman Project.
