Al Mayadeen – October 12, 2024
Hezbollah escalates ops, bombards Israeli explosives factory in Haifa
Hezbollah affirms that its operations came in defense of Lebanon, its sovereignty, and its people, as well as in support of Gaza and its brave and honorable Resistance.
Hezbollah kickstarted the early hours of Saturday with a series of operations and confrontations against the Israeli occupation at the frontlines, repelling its military vehicles and foiling its ongoing attempts to infiltrate Lebanese territories.
Hezbollah affirmed that its operations came in defense of Lebanon, its sovereignty, and its people, as well as in support of Gaza and its brave and honorable Resistance.
The operations of October 12, 2024, thereby came as follows, until 1 pm :
Operations Overview
- At 1:00 a.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted an Israeli troop gathering at the al-Jardah military site with a rocket salvo.
- At 1:30 a.m., Hezbollah fighters bombarded the Houma military base in the occupied Syrian Golan with a rocket salvo.
- At 2:10 a.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted Israeli formations in the Zarit barracks with a rocket salvo.
- At 3:45 a.m., Hezbollah fighters bombarded enemy positions in Mi'ilya with a rocket salvo.
- As an Israeli bulldozer was trying to exit the vicinity of the Ramya military site, Hezbollah launched a guided missile at it, at 3:50 a.m., confirming a direct hit.
- At 4:15 a.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted an Israeli infantry force in Khirbet Zarit with artillery shells, confirming a direct hit.
- Hezbollah announced an operation carried out on Friday at 5:00 a.m., during which its fighters launched a swarm of attack drones against Ein Margaliot, confirming direct hits on its targets.
- At 6:00 a.m., Hezbollah fighters shelled the 7200 base south of Haifa and targeted its explosives factory with a barrage of advanced rockets.
- At 10:00 a.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted an Israeli soldier gathering positioned in the outskirts of the Southern Lebanese village of Blida.
- At 10:30 a.m., Hezbollah fighters bombarded the occupied city of Tabarayya.
- At 12:20 p.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted an Israeli occupation positioning in the Metula settlement with a large rocket salvo.
- At 12:20 p.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted an Israeli occupation gathering in the Kfar Yuval settlement with a rocket barrage.
- At 12:20 p.m., Hezbollah fighters bombarded the telecommunications base in Keren Naftali with a large rocket barrage.
- At 12:20 p.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted an Israeli occupation gathering in Khirbet Nafha with a rocket barrage.
- At 12:20 p.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted an Israeli occupation gathering in Kfar Giladi with a rocket barrage.
- At 1:00 p.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted an Israeli occupation gathering in the al-Manara settlement with with artillery shells.
- Hezbollah's military media announced an operation carried out on Friday at 5:00 p.m., during which its fighters struck targets in Ein Margaliot using a swarm of attack drones, confirming direct hits.
- Hezbollah's military media announced another operation carried out on Friday at 8:00 p.m., during which its fighters targeted the Israeli Air Defense base in Kiryat Eliezer north of Haifa, deploying a swarm of attack drones which accurately struck their targets.
- At 2:30 p.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted an Israeli occupation gathering in Misgav Am with with artillery shells.
- At 3:15 p.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted the Zevulun base for military production with a rocket salvo.
- Escalations by the day
Amid the intense confrontations between Hezbollah and Israeli occupation officers and soldiers, the support front continues to target Israeli occupation army gatherings, positions, and supply lines at military sites and bases along the front lines and within border settlements in the occupied territories, achieving confirmed hits, as reported.
The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon's Operations Room highlighted that both the missile and air forces of Hezbollah are persistently targeting Israeli occupation military bases and settlements deep in northern occupied Palestine, describing this effort as "a gradual escalation, day by day.
They further noted that all of these military operations by the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon have been conducted "with high-level, real-time coordination between the leadership of the Islamic Resistance and the operations room, extending to the brothers stationed on the front lines."
Additionally, the Operations Room stressed that "days after announcing the start of its so-called land maneuver in southern Lebanon, [Israel] cannot show its tanks and military vehicles to the Lebanese side, for fear of their being targeted, and places them in unexposed places," adding that these vehicles have nevertheless been targeted by missiles and artillery shells, inflicting heavy losses.
The statement also confirmed that, as of the time of its release, the Israeli occupation forces had "failed to secure control over any of the strategic hills they aimed to capture." Instead, they have only managed to reach a few homes on the outskirts of some border villages, primarily for photo ops and media stunts.
Al Mayadeen – October 12, 2024
Hezbollah shocks observers, 'Israel' reliving 2006 war: CNN
Israeli soldiers tell CNN that the war against Hezbollah and Lebanon has proven to be more challenging than expected, as flashbacks of 2006 haunt the occupation.
The Israeli war against Lebanon could end at a stalemate, as violent confrontations at the border indicate that [an Israeli victory] will not be easy, CNN said in a recent report.
According to the network, Hezbollah's level of resistance has surprised many observers, particularly following the recent Israeli aggression and assassinations, including that of Martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Nevertheless, the Resistance remained organized and continued launching its missiles and rockets against "Israel".
Hezbollah holds the upper hand in the South
Israeli occupation soldiers fighting in Lebanon have abundantly expressed to CNN that the open, mountainous terrain of Lebanese territories, where Hezbollah fighters are present, makes the operation more difficult to carry out.
One occupation soldier, who had fought in Gaza and is now deployed against Lebanon, highlighted the stark differences between the northern front and his experience in Gaza.
"The challenge is not that Hezbollah is more equipped by Iran or have more training. The challenge is the switch in the head from months of fighting in an urban territory versus fighting in an open area territory," he said, adding that the most basic maneuvers, including the IOF line-up and how they move, differ.
Additionally, despite claims of the Israeli military being "far more superior" to Hezbollah's freedom fighters on paper, due to its more sophisticated weapons arsenal, larger battalions, and stronger allies, the soldier confirmed that all their strongholds are rendered worthless in open battle in the Resistance's homeland.
Guerrilla warfare proves deadly for Israeli soldiers
In the same context, Daniel Sobelman, an international security expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said the IOF underwent a similar experience during the 2006 July war against Lebanon.
"Hezbollah were up against the strongest military in the Middle East, there were literally hundreds of Israeli air raids per day, and artillery, and all the capabilities that a modern, advanced military has to offer. And they were not defeated. They survived. And throughout the entire Israeli offensive, Hezbollah was able to fire hundreds of rockets into Israel every day," he said.
Following "Israel's" humiliating defeat in 2006, it has spent the past two decades preparing to confront Hezbollah once again, until Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, which was completely unprecedented and unexpected, according to Sobelman.
And while "Israel" decided to wage war against Hezbollah, expecting to end it unscathed, it is worth noting that Hezbollah has also been preparing for war, and "that is never the case with guerrilla warfare."
Additionally, "Israel" is fighting on lands Hezbollah are masters in and are driven and determined to inflict massive losses against the IOF, Sobelman added.
"They’re entrenched in underground facilities and they’re playing a defensive game,” he said of Hezbollah’s fighters, noting that "it doesn’t matter how many of them you kill, still (in a guerilla war) the weaker side ultimately wins by imposing a sustained accumulation of costs."
Revisiting "Israel's" defeat in 2006, Sobelman said today's scenario is exactly what happened during the July War, noting that despite the occupation's material superiority, it was still unable to achieve any of its war objectives.
History repeats itself
Therefore, the next move could potentially constitute the deployment of more occupation troops along the northern front, which could quickly transform the current battle into a bloodier one.
"Israel" announced that four divisions of 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers each have been deployed to fight in Lebanon. However, Hezbollah remains undeterred, and continues ambushing the occupation forces and inflicting severe losses among their ranks.
On October 11, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, in defense of its lands and in support of Gaza, targeted five Israeli forces in Ras al-Naqoura, four of which had been trying to evacuate the casualties that preceded.
In this context, Ziv Hospital in the occupied North announced that it has been receiving influxes of injuries and casualties amid "Israel's" ground operation in Lebanon.
The hospital’s director, Salman Zarka, said hundreds of injuries flooded the hospital throughout the first few days of direct confrontations at the border.
Yesterday, 20 Israeli soldiers were injured along Lebanon's southern border. While "Israel" has admitted to the deaths of 14 troops, Hezbollah confirmed that at least 35 fatalities were scored, along with hundreds of injuries, since October 1.
Al Mayadeen – October 12, 2024
Day 372 in Gaza: 42,175 killed, 98,336 injured by 'Israel'
Many victims remain trapped beneath rubble and lining the streets, as ambulance and Civil Defense teams are unable to reach them.
n the 372nd day of "Israel's" relentless genocidal war on Gaza, Israeli occupation forces committed five massacres against civilians and families, killing 49 Palestinians and injuring 219 more, Gaza's Health Ministry revealed in its daily report.
Tragically, many victims remain trapped beneath rubble, as ambulance and Civil Defense teams are unable to reach them due to ongoing bombardments and Israeli violence which deliberately obstructs their routes and rescue operations. These casualties are not reported in the Health Ministry's toll.
Since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on October 7, 2023, the death toll has soared to 42,175 martyrs and 98,336 wounded.
"Israel" recently initiated another bloody onslaught in Northern Gaza, particularly the Jabalia refugee camp and surrounding areas. Israeli forces have ordered residents to relocate to so-called "humanitarian zones" in the south, however, Palestinian and UN officials affirmed that there are no safe areas in the densely populated Strip.
The World Health Organization (WHO) consequently accused "Israel" of blocking two humanitarian missions attempting to enter northern Gaza, where the besieged region is suffering from relentless attacks and a crumbling health system.
The missions, which aimed to evacuate critical patients and deliver essential fuel, blood units, and medical supplies, were forced to turn back due to Israeli checkpoints and other barriers, the WHO said on Thursday.
A total of seven such missions have been denied or obstructed this week.
Media Reports - October 7, 2024
Palestine: The Linchpin of Civilization Renaissance
Mahathir Mohamad says: "The least we can do while we feel helpless is to condemn Israel, the US, and their Western allies, as well as Muslims who are complicit in their crimes against humanity."
Turkey hosted a three-day conference, titled "Palestine: The Linchpin of Civilization Renaissance" from October 5 to 7, to discuss Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, examining regional and international orders, its impacts, implications and future directions in the context of Israel's ongoing war on Palestine.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, told the conference that Israeli brutal war on Gaza over the past year has exposed the Jewish state’s “deceit” and highlights the continuing struggle of Palestinians for a homeland.
The events that have unfolded since October 7 have seen the "collapse of the Israeli narrative and the world's realisation of Zionist deceit,” the veteran statesman told the conference in a virtual address.
“October 7 marks a significant day as Palestinians resolved to send a message to the world that they are determined to liberate their land after their cause was nearly forgotten amidst the sustained blockade, expanding settlements, attacks on Al Aqsa Mosque, the Judaization of Jerusalem, and the imposition of apartheid policies on all Palestinians.”
The conference brought together experts, political leaders, and activists to explore the consequences of Israel’s continued war, which has claimed the lives of over 42,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and displaced nearly the entire population of Gaza.
Mahathir praised South Africa's recent decision to take Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for charges of genocide.
“South Africa’s historic stand at the ICJ is an important step toward holding Israel accountable for its actions,” he said. However, he lamented the "disunity of Muslims and the weakness of our nations," criticising their inability to respond forcefully to Israel’s aggression.
"The genocide committed by Israel is endorsed and supported by the US and their Western allies," he added, expressing his condemnation of those backing Israel's military offensives against Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran.
“If anyone had doubts, the US intervention in Iran’s retaliation against Israel proved that the Israelis or Zionists rule the world by proxy."
Mahathir concluded his remarks by calling on the global Muslim community to unite against Israel’s actions, urging: "The least we can do while we feel helpless is to condemn Israel, the US, and their Western allies, as well as Muslims who are complicit in their crimes against humanity."
He added that the time had come for Muslims to set aside their differences, stressing the importance of collective action in confronting the injustices faced by Palestinians.
The conference addressed several critical issues, including the moral and intellectual state of Western civilization, the role of Arab countries amid the ongoing Gaza war, and the broader context of Palestine and the Islamic world.
Discussions also covered the "intellectual and civilizational conflict with the Zionist project," normalization in the Islamic world, and its impact on the Palestinian cause.
Nicaragua breaks diplomatic ties with Israel amid ongoing Gaza war
In a largely symbolic move, the Ortega government condemned Israel’s leaders as ‘fascist’ and ‘genocidal’ over Gaza war.
The government of Nicaragua has announced that it will break diplomatic relations with Israel, adding to the country’s growing isolation on the global stage amid its war in Gaza.
Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo announced the move to state media on Friday after the country’s Congress passed a resolution calling for action after the one-year anniversary of the Gaza war on October 7.
Murillo, who is President Daniel Ortega’s wife, said her husband instructed the government to “sever diplomatic relations with the fascist and genocidal government of Israel”.
The announcement is largely a symbolic one, since Israel does not have a resident ambassador in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua and relations between the two nations are nearly nonexistent.
Still, the announcement comes at a time when Israel is under growing diplomatic scrutiny amid a brutal campaign in Gaza and expanding attacks across the Middle East, including in Lebanon.
The death toll in Gaza has spiralled past 42,000 people, and thousands more have been killed in the bombing campaign in Lebanon, many in the last few weeks.
The Nicaraguan government condemned Israel’s war in Gaza on Friday and said the fighting now “extends against Lebanon and gravely threatens Syria, Yemen and Iran”.
Opposition to the Gaza war has been relatively widespread in Latin America, where leftist leaders in countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Chile have emerged as outspoken critics of Israel.
The Palestinian mission to the United Nations announced on Friday that those three nations had helped spearhead a letter of support for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whom Israel declared persona non grata last week.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro cut diplomatic ties with Israel in May, calling the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “genocidal”. Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also recalled the country’s ambassador to Israel that same month, and he likened the war in Gaza to the Holocaust.
For its part, the Ortega government submitted a request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to halt German arms sales to Israel, an effort the court rejected in April.
Nicaragua has faced its own problems with growing diplomatic isolation in Latin America, as Ortega and his allies step up repressive actions against dissidents and opponents of the government.
Israel’s ‘silent war’ on seizing Palestinian land in occupied West Bank
The UN says Israel is waging war on the occupied West Bank, adding that a silent war is also taking place that is focused on seizing Palestinian territory and uprooting Palestinian families from their land.
Attacks by Israeli forces and settlers have been among the most violent in the past year.
“Israel is waging two wars in the occupied West Bank. One campaign is record-breaking in its violence and destruction. The other is silent but strategically potent,” said Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from the occupied West Bank.
“It is the war on Palestinian land and the existence of Palestinian communities under the cover of genocide.”
Israel has illegally seized 27.8 square kilometres of Palestinian land, including areas the UN designated as World Heritage sites. That’s more than half of all the Palestinian land seized in the preceding 24 years.
“Since last October Israeli forces have demolished nearly 2,000 Palestinian homes and structures and displaced nearly 5,000 Palestinians, including uprooting entire communities from their lands affecting another more than 530,000 people.”
In addition, more than 700 people have been killed in these attacks since last October.
Why Palestinians won’t leave their land
The more Israel tries to make Palestinian life impossible in Palestine, the more Palestinians resist.
Ahmad Ibsais
Over the past year, Israel’s genocidal violence has officially killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza. Estimates put the real death toll at more than 180,000. Simultaneously, the Israeli occupation forces have repeatedly carried out bloody assaults on the West Bank, massacring more than 740 Palestinians. Last month, the colonial regime expanded its violence into Lebanon, where on September 23, more than 500 people were killed. In two weeks, Israel has murdered more thanﾠ2,000ﾠLebanese people.
The Israeli army has flattened whole neighbourhoods in Gaza, digging out roads with bulldozers, bombing infrastructure and utility installations, and pulverising residential buildings. Health and educational facilities have been obliterated – water stations, electricity plants and solar panels destroyed. In short, Israel has tried to wipe out all that sustains life in Gaza.
Palestinians have been ordered to “evacuate” the vast majority of the strip and are being crowded into 16 percent of its territory. This same strategy to empty the land has been applied to some areas of the West Bank and now in Lebanon.
People are told they can return once Israel’s “military operations” are done. But we all know that the slaughter is meant to clear the land for colonisation. It happened before – during the Nakba of 1948 – and the Palestinians were never allowed to return to their homes despite a United Nations resolution demanding it. That is why Palestinians will not leave.
To some outsiders, the enduring Palestinian attachment to their land may seem difficult to understand. It is especially incomprehensible to the Zionists who expelled so many of us, hoping we would just move elsewhere in the Arab world and assimilate. But the Palestinian people have not given up their rightful claim to their land for more than seven decades now.
The question of why Palestinians refuse to leave their homes and ancestral lands, even in the face of relentless bombardment, raids, settler encroachment and economic dispossession, is one that is deeply personal and fundamental to Palestinian identity. It is not simply a matter of geography or property ownership but a profound connection to the land that is woven into the fabric of Palestinian history, culture and collective memory. There is a stubbornness to this decision, yes, but also a deep understanding that to leave would be to sever a connection that has been in place for generations.
As an agrarian society, the Palestinians have a special place for land in their culture and collective consciousness. The olive tree is the perfect symbol of it. Olive trees are ancient, resilient and deeply rooted – just like the Palestinian people. Families tend to these trees the way they tend to their heritage. The act of harvesting olives, pressing them into oil and sharing that oil with loved ones is an act of cultural preservation.
That is why the Israeli army and settlers love to attack Palestinian olive groves. Destroying an olive tree is more than an attack on Palestinian livelihood. It is an attack on Palestinian identity. Israel’s attempt to wipe it out is reflected in its relentless war on Palestinian olive trees. From 1967 to 2013, it uprooted about 800,000 of them.
The attachment to the homeland is there even among us, the diaspora Palestinians. I myself was born in Nablus in the occupied West Bank but grew up outside Palestine. Even when far away, I never stopped feeling a connection to the Palestinian land.
My family was forced to flee during the second Intifada. My father had watched the Israeli army steal his father’s land and turn it into a military checkpoint, and my mother was being shot at by settlers on her way to work. Theirs was not a decision to voluntarily emigrate; it was an act of survival.
Over the past two decades, I have gone back to Palestine regularly, watching settlers steadily encroach on Palestinian land, trying to displace more Palestinians from their homes. What I remembered as a child as clusters of illegally built houses grew to become whole cities – besieging Palestinian towns and villages from all sides.
But as I saw Palestinian olive trees burned, Palestinian water rerouted and stolen, and Palestinian homes demolished, I also witnessed resistance and defiance. Palestinians were setting up water tanks to make it through periods of water cut-offs by the Israelis. They were rebuilding their homes at night after a demolition, and they were rushing to help communities like Huwara when a settler raid would take place.
In the past year, Israeli violence has become genocidal, but Palestinian “sumud” – steadfastness – has not been diminished. From Jenin to Gaza, Palestinians – under relentless Israeli attacks and bombardment – have not stopped resisting the colonial onslaught through the simple act of living and surviving.
The more the occupier tries to make Palestinian life impossible, the more Palestinians come up with makeshift solutions to make it possible – whether it is a washing machine powered by a bicycle, a clay oven made from mud and straw to bake bread or an electricity generator assembled from random machine parts. These are just a few acts of stubborn perseverance, of sumud, crystallised.
Meanwhile, in the diaspora, our hearts and minds have never left Palestine. We have watched in pain and in terror as the genocide has unfolded and as the leaders of the countries where we have sought refuge have turned a blind eye. Many in the West do not believe Palestinian life has value. They do not see us as human beings.
This relentless dehumanisation of Palestinians has spread despair and hopelessness among our communities. But we have no right to give up when the people of Gaza carry on amid the horrors of genocide. We have to awaken Palestinian sumud within us and mobilise to tell other societies that we are here, we exist and we will persevere in a world bent on erasing us.
The metaphor of “we are the land” is not just poetic. It is a lived reality for the Palestinian people. When Palestinians are asked, “Why don’t you leave?” they respond with “Why should we?” This is Palestinian land, cultivated by the blood and tears of generations of Palestinians. Leaving it would mean losing everything. It would mean allowing the erasure of our history, our culture, our collective soul. A year into this genocide, Palestinians remain because they must.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/10/7/why-palestinians-wont-leave-their-land
