The American presidential administration has decided to publicly cool the enthusiasm of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who yesterday in his televised speech accused the American leadership of an “unthinkable” delay in the delivery of weapons and ammunition to Israel. This included heavy aerial bombs, the shipment of which was suspended in May due to concerns about their use in the Gaza Strip in the context of fighting in the Rafah urban area.
In response, the White House canceled a meeting scheduled for Thursday with senior Israeli officials in Washington, which was supposed to discuss several important issues, including the situation on the Lebanon-Israel border and Iran. In particular, part of the Israeli delegation received information about the cancellation of the meeting while traveling to the American capital.
The incident allowed the Biden administration to use Netanyahu’s words for electoral purposes, to demonstrate its power and “put its ally in his place”.
For the ultra-Orthodox parties in government it was a sort of moral slap with the intention of the States to remember the importance of not challenging important partners, such as Washington.
The second meeting to be held also falls within this framework. At the same time, in fact, the meeting between US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and the head of the Israeli National Security Council Tzachi Hanegbi will take place without changes, as will the planned visit of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to the United States on next week.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense has released footage of attacks on Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon. The military targets were weapons depots, militant groups, missile launchers and other items of the Shiite group. The Israeli Foreign Minister responded to the release of the footage by stating that Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will suffer severely. The country’s military leadership said that operational plans for the invasion of southern Lebanon have been approved. Israel’s Foreign Ministry says “we are very close” to “changing the rules of the game” and that in a “total war” Hezbollah “will be destroyed” and Lebanon “will be hit hard”
The Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces has approved the creation of a new reserve division which will be composed of five brigades and will be called “96to Division”. Furthermore, the Rehabilitation Department of the Jewish Ministry of Defense announces that the number of disabled soldiers has risen to 8,663 since October 7. The data adds that 35% of all military casualties are treated in mental health departments.
The IDF commander of the Northern Front is said to have approved combat plans for the offensive in Lebanon with the head of the IDF Operations Directorate According to the Israel Defense Forces, “General Ori Gordin, and the head of the Directorate of Operations, General Oded Basiuk, approved the operational plans and held a joint situational assessment at the Northern Command. As part of the situation assessment, operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved and validated and decisions were made on the continuation of increasing the readiness of troops in the field.”
Faced with the possible escalation on the northern Lebanese front, Hassan Nasrallah, head of Hezbollah, spoke yesterday. No place in Israel will be safe from Hezbollah attacks in the event of a large-scale war.
Here is a summary of the interesting statements from the Hezbollah leader’s televised speech: if war is “imposed” on Lebanon, Hezbollah will fight “without rules, without limits”;
Cyprus will join the war if it continues to allow Israel to use its airports and bases for military exercises and Hezbollah “takes care of it,” Nasrallah threatened Cyprus for the first time.
Israel must stop military action in Gaza if it wants to reach a ceasefire with Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq, the Hezbollah chief added.
Israel, Nasrallah recalled, has already evacuated many of its military sites on the border with southern Lebanon.
Nasrallah then did not rule out the assault on Galilee itself.
According to Hezbollah, Israeli forces fear an escalation that will strongly affect the Gaza front and force them to save ammunition.
On military tactics, Nasrallah revealed that Hezbollah followed the strategy of blinding the IDF by targeting Israeli technical equipment, radars and balloons.
And here is a quick look at the Lebanese-Israeli front and that between Israel and Hamas to 19 June 2024.
The situation on the border between Lebanon and Israel has worsened significantly. The trigger was the statement by the IDF spokesman on the approval of an operational plan for an offensive in southern Lebanon, supported by the commander of the Northern Command Ori Gordin and the head of the operations directorate Oded Basiuk.
According to Lebanese media, an ultimatum was conveyed to the Hezbollah leaders through the American embassy in Beirut, according to which the Lebanese movement must withdraw its units beyond the Litani River, otherwise this will mean the start of a ground operation by the Israeli Defense.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah has hinted at the possibility of launching a pre-emptive strike against Israel if the country is preparing for a ground operation. And through the media affiliated with the movement, statements began to spread that in the event of aggression, Israel will face irreparable damage – and against the background of the recent shooting of the “Hoopoe” reconnaissance UAV, such statements are not an empty threat.
At the moment the usual attacks along the border continue, but with a slightly greater intensity by the Israelis compared to the last few days.
Israeli troops hit several border settlements in southern Lebanon. The shots also fell on Yaroun and Hiam, reported victims. The coastal settlement of Burgaliya in the Sur area also came under fire: first an Israeli drone attacked, and then the Israeli Air Force fired missiles on the area of one of the large villas.
In turn, Hezbollah reported attacks on Israel Defense Forces facilities: one of the targets hit was a military factory in Kibbutz Sasa. Another 15 rockets were fired at Kiryat Shmona, where the headquarters of the Israeli army’s 769th Brigade is located. Metulla was also bombed and attacked by a UAV, causing damage to several residential buildings.
One of the signs of a possible IDF ground operation in southern Lebanon, in addition to the growing threats from Israel, is the withdrawal of several formations from the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Moving on to the Gaza theater, Israeli victims are reported in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, in the northwestern part of Gaza
The Al-Qassam Brigades carried out a rocket attack against IDF troops in Gaza. The attack was carried out with multiple Iranian-made 107 mm “Fadjr-1” high-explosive rockets.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades carried out rocket and mortar attacks against IDF troops in the Netzarim axis of the Gaza Strip. The group used Iranian-made HM-16 120 mm mortars with M48 HE bombs and 107 mm Fadjr-1 model high-explosive rockets.
Antonio Albanese
Segui i nostri aggiornamenti su Spigolature geopolitiche: https://t.me/agc_NW e sul nostro blog Le Spigolature di AGCNEWS: https://spigolatureagcnews.blogspot.com/
