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Inside the Struggle between Israel and Hizbullah

(Tablet) Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira - Hizbullah, with Iran's help, is working to build long-range capabilities that will allow it to strike precise targets in the Israeli home front. Israel is resolved to prevent Hizbullah from gaining that capability. Hizbullah has at least 28 missile-launch sites in populated areas of Beirut that are under its control. These include private homes, medical centers, industrial zones, and offices. Hizbullah is also building a capability to use special forces to seize lands in the Galilee. According to a source close to Hizbullah, five battalions of Radwan special forces were set up and sent for commando training in Iran. Each battalion has a thousand fighters, and each battalion was assigned a specific territory to take over in northern Israel. Each battalion studied and became familiar with the special topographical conditions of the area it was responsible for and trained to conquer it. While the war in Syria interrupted this plan, it also enabled the Radwan forces to accumulate highly valuable battle experience for the future. This marks a basic change in Hizbullah's approach to war, which had primarily built deterrent and defensive capabilities and now is also dealing intensively with offense and with taking the next war to Israeli territory. The writer, a senior research fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, served as Military Secretary to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
2020-08-13 00:00:00
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