Hezbollah's revenge for Israeli assassination of Fuad Shukr

Will this "initial response" be followed up with another "phase" of attacks by Hezbollah?

As mentioned at the end of my previous article on the arrest of Telegram founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, Hezbollah carried out its retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Fuad Shukr in the early morning of today.

It all started in the early hours of Sunday 25th August 2024: according to an article published at ~4:00 EEST by Al Mayadeen, Hezbollah was amassing forces to strike Israel. Approximately an hour later, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched what it would later call “self-defence” and “pre-emptive strikes”, i.e. a 20-minute aerial aggression against southern Lebanon, “targeting some villages for the first time” and “forested areas in towns of Kounin, Beit Yahoun, Haddatha, Rashaf, and Tiri”, as reported by Al Mayadeen in its Short News and in this article. At the same time Israeli media were reporting that “residents in the north are advised to stay near fortified areas, minimize movement, and avoid gathering or going into forested areas”, with authorities “asking residents of the Golan Heights and al-Jalil to stay near fortified areas” and with flights to and from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv cancelled.

Just before ~6:00 EEST Al Mayadeen started reporting in its Short News that the “Resistance in Lebanon is responding to Israeli occupation's attack on the south with missiles targeting deep into the western al-Jalil and the occupied Syrian Golan”, but only at ~6:30 EEST Hezbollah finally released a first statement (from the Resistance News Network Backup Telegram channel), confirming that the military operations it had just started were an “initial response” to the Israeli killing of its senior commander, Fouad Shokor, as reported also in this Al Mayadeen article (emphasis original):

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In the name of Allah, the Crusher of the Tyrants

Preliminary Statement by the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon

"Indeed, we will take revenge upon the criminals."

On the day of Arabeen of Imam Hussein bin Ali (peace be upon them), the Master of Martyrs, the Leader of the Free, and the symbol of sacrifice, altruism, and defiance, and at dawn on this Sunday, August 25, 2024, as part of the initial response to the brutal zionist aggression on the southern suburbs (Dahiye) of Beirut, which resulted in the martyrdom of the great jihadi commander Sayyed Fouad Shukr, may Allah have mercy on him, and a number of our dear civilians, including women and children, the fighters of the Islamic Resistance launched an aerial attack with a large number of drones deep into the zionist entity, targeting a qualitative “israeli” military target that will be announced later.

Simultaneously, the fighters of the Islamic Resistance targeted several enemy positions, barracks, and Iron Dome platforms in northern occupied Palestine with a large number of rockets.

These military operations will take some time to be completed, and afterward, a detailed statement regarding their progress and objectives will be issued, by the will of Allah.

The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon is currently at its highest level of readiness and will stand firm and vigilant against any zionist transgression or aggression, especially if civilians are harmed, in which case the punishment will be severe and very harsh.

"And victory is only from Allah, the Mighty, the Wise."

Islamic Resistance

Half an hour later, at ~7:00 EEST, Hezbollah released a second statement, announcing the end of the “first phase” of its response to Fouad Shokor’s murder (emphasis mine):

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In His Name, the Almighty

25-8-2024

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

"Indeed, we will take revenge upon the criminals."

First, by the grace of Allah Almighty, the first phase has been completed with complete success. This phase involved targeting zionist barracks and sites to facilitate the passage of attack drones towards their intended targets deep within the entity. By the grace of Allah, the drones crossed as planned.

Second, the number of Katyusha rockets fired so far has exceeded 320 towards enemy sites.

Third, the sites that have been successfully targeted and hit by the grace of Allah are:

1. "Meron" Base

2. "Neveh Ziv" Artillery Position

3. "Zaatoun" Base

4. "Zaoura" Artillery Positions

5. "Sahel" Base

6. "Keila" Barracks in the occupied Syrian Golan

7. "UAV" Barracks in the occupied Syrian Golan

8. "Nafah" Base in the occupied Syrian Golan

9. "Yardena" Base in the occupied Syrian Golan

10. "Ein Zeitim" Base

11. "Ramot Naftali" Barracks

Fourth, further details about the military operation will be provided in subsequent statements.

"And victory is only from Allah, the Mighty, the Wise."

Islamic Resistance

In the meantime, the Israeli security cabinet was convened and Israel declared a 48-hour state of emergency, as reported by The Guardian, probably fearing much longer retaliation from Hezbollah.

A third statement was released by Hezbollah at ~9:00 EEST, stating that Israeli claims of successful “pre-emptive actions” were not true, probably responding to a tweet by Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, saying that ~100 Israeli fighter jets were involved in attacking and destroying “thousands” of Hezbollah launch pads in southern Lebanon:

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In His Name, the Almighty

25-8-2024

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

"Indeed, we will take revenge upon the criminals."

With the help of Allah Almighty, all the offensive drones were launched at the times specified for them and from all their (predetermined) positions and crossed the Lebanese-Palestinian borders towards the desired target and from multiple paths, and thus our military operation for today has been completed and accomplished, praise be to Allah Almighty.

The enemy's claims about the preemptive action it carried out, the targets it achieved, and its disruption of the resistance's attack are empty claims and contradict the facts on the ground and will be refuted in a speech by the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, which will be scheduled later today.

"And victory is only from Allah, the Mighty, the Wise."

Islamic Resistance

From what I have seen and understood, Israel did carry out some military operations in Southern Lebanon before the start of Hezbollah’s retaliation, but most likely they were not successful in stopping it, possibly because the amassing of Hezbollah forces in some areas reported by Al Mayadeen at ~4:00 EEST was a diversionary move.

Between the 2nd and 3rd Hezbollah statements, Israel carried out more airstrikes in southern Lebanon, while Israel’s Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, spoke over the phone with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, who of course could not reaffirm “the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s defence against any attacks by Iran and its regional partners and proxies”, as reported by The Guardian.

Israeli military spokesperson Lieut-Col Nadav Shoshani stated that Hezbollah strikes caused “little damage”, as reported in another snippet by The Guardian. Well… that’s to be seen. In fact, the IDF had to admit that at least one navy sailor and two other people were injured during the Hezbollah attack this morning, as reported by The Times of Israel. Of course, Israel is downplaying and Hezbollah has not released any evidence of successful attacks, though in the afternoon it released the following video showing the location of IDF military bases and barracks it targeted in the first phase of its attack against Israel:

The military bases and barracks targeted by the Islamic Resistance in the first phase of retaliation for the assassination of the senior jihadist leader Sayyed Fouad Shukr and the martyrdom of several civilians in the southern suburb (Dahiya) of Beirut.

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Notes:

0:11 - "Beit Hillel" Barracks, the command headquarters of the “Sahel” battalion.

0:20 - "Zaoura" Artillery Positions, a fixed artillery battery position belonging to the 769th Brigade.

0:28 - "Keila" Barracks, Air and Missile Defense Headquarters belonging to the 210th Division.

0:37 - "Yoav" Barracks, an artillery and missile battalion base affiliated with the Northern Command.

0:45 - "Nafah" base, command headquarters of the 210th Division.

0:53 - "Yarden" barracks, the artillery regiment headquarters and the armored brigade of the 210th Division.

1:02 - "Ramot Naftali" barracks, border company center.

1:10 - "Ein Zeitim" base, headquarters of the Northern Corps command.

1:19 - "Meron" Air Base, Air Management, Surveillance, and Control Center in northern occupied Palestine.

1:28 - "Neveh Ziv" Artillery Position, artillery position belonging to the 282nd Battalion.

1:37 - "Jaatoun," a newly established field headquarters for the 146th Division Command.

What’s worrying is that this afternoon the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that the Israeli pre-emptive strikes in Lebanon this morning were not “the end of the story”, as reported by The Guardian and The Times of Israel. However, in the evening both outlets (Guardian and Times of Israel) reported that

Israel and the Lebanon-based group Hezbollah exchanged messages via intermediaries earlier today in order to prevent further escalation following one of the biggest exchanges of fire between the two foes in 10 months, two diplomats tell Reuters.

The main message was that both sides considered Sunday’s intense exchange of bombardment to be “done” and that neither side wants a full-scale war, one diplomat says. The diplomats speak on condition of anonymity.

In any case, more and more airlines not only to Beirut, but also to Tel Aviv (e.g. British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France and Transavia) are suspending flights - source: The Guardian), thus hurting Israeli tourism and economy, which is already suffering, as I already discussed in the article in the link below.

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In the meantime, The Guardian quoted a Reuters report citing a Hezbollah official as saying that the response to Fuad Shukr's killing was “delayed by political considerations”, i.e. the ongoing talks on a ceasefire and hostage release deal for the Gaza Strip, as well as making sure that the revenge would not trigger a full-scale war. The Guardian also reported that Hamas had welcomed Hezbollah’s attack on Israel:

The crimes against the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples will not pass without a response.

Al Mayadeen reported that the Houthis had also “extended their congratulations to Hezbollah” for its attack against Israel this morning, stating:

This powerful and effective response deep within the Israeli entity, which remains ongoing, confirms that the resistance is capable, strong, and true to its promises and warnings.

…and reiterating that “Yemen's response is certainly coming” too, referring to the upcoming retaliation for the Israeli airstrike in Hodeida on 20th July 2024. And last night Iranian Revolutionary Guard Commander Hossein Salami also said that retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh will follow soon, as reported in this Times of Israel article:

You will hear good news about revenge, God willing.

Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah - from Al Mayadeen.

Finally here are a few statements from the speech that Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gave tonight (courtesy of Al Mayadeen Short News - all emphasis mine):

We waited to allow negotiations because our goal from all this front and sacrifices is to stop the war on Gaza.

We targeted the Gililot base, which is a main base affiliated with the Aman military intelligence section, and Unit 8200 which is affiliated with it. [This was speculated this morning on The Times of Israel]

The Gililot base is 110 km from the Lebanese border and 1,500 meters from the Tel Aviv boundary.

No Rocket or drone launch pad was hit before the operation.

The Israeli army’s claim, which Netanyahu adopted, that it destroyed thousands of missiles and thousands of missile launchers is false.

All the platforms that were intended to launch missiles were not hit before the operation, and only two platforms were hit after the operation.

The enemy did not have any intel, and its raids that preceded the operation by an hour were the result of the natural movement of the Resistance fighters.

We are facing a false Israeli narrative and an intelligence failure.

Based on the result of the operations, if the outcome is deemed satisfactory and the intended goal is achieved, the response is considered concluded, while if the result is not sufficient, we will reserve the right to respond.

For a summary of Nasrallah’s speech please refer to this Al Mayadeen article or read the more detailed highlights (in English) in this post and the following two (1 and 2) on the Resistance News Network Backup Telegram channel.

Soon after the end of Nasrallah’s speech, Hezbollah released a second video, indicating the location of IDF military bases and barracks it targeted in the second phase of its attack against Israel (all formatting of the description underneath as in the original Telegram post in the link above):

The two bases targeted by the Islamic Resistance in the second phase of the “Day of Arbaeen” Operation, in response to the assassination of the senior jihadist leader Sayyed Fouad Shukr and the martyrdom of a number of civilians in the southern suburb of Beirut.

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Notes:

0:18 - “Ein Shemer” Base - multi-layered air missile air defense base.

0:26 - “Ein Shemer” Base - contains “Arrow,” “David’s Sling,” and “Iron Dome” systems.

0:35 - “Ein Shemer” Base - includes the headquarters of the “Menashe” Regional Brigade.

0:44 - “Ein Shemer” Base - includes an airport for drone experimentation.

0:50 - "Ein Sheimer" Base - Located east of the occupied city of Khdeira, it is 72km away from the Lebanese border.

1:02 - "Glilot" Base - The main base of the Military Intelligence Division "Aman."

1:10 - "Glilot" Base - Located on the northern outskirts of the city of "Tel Aviv," 110km away from the Lebanese border.

1:17 - "Glilot" Base - It houses the main center of Unit 8200, responsible for signal intelligence and cyber operations.

1:23 - "Glilot" Base - It includes the Military Intelligence School and a group of leadership military colleges.

1:30 - "Glilot" Base - It includes the communications battalion of the Military Intelligence Division ("Aman").

On a final note, it is worth pointing out that just before Hezbollah’s attack, in the early morning the Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced a strike on a “vital target in Haifa on our occupied territories using a drone”, confirming “its commitment to continuing to strike enemy strongholds in support of our people in Gaza and in response to the massacres perpetrated by the occupying entity against Palestinian civilians, including children, women, and the elderly” (source: Al Mayadeen), thus suggesting some coordination between the two parties of the Axis of Resistance.

Now we still need to wait and see if, when and how the other parties of the Axis of Resistance, namely Yemeni Ansar Allah and Iran, take their revenge, knowing that Hamas has just rejected Israel’s new conditions in the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks, as reported by The Guardian a couple of hours ago.

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