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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Israeli Officials Say Hezbollah Will Try to Shoot Down Israeli Aircraft |
| 2008-07-28 |
| Hezbollah will attempt to focus efforts on hitting Israel Air Force [IAF] aircraft in the skies over Lebanon, Israeli officials assess. The organization's current weapons are insufficient for attacking Israel's aerial forces, and therefore Hezbollah is acquiring more modern weaponry, capable of hitting those targets. "After the prisoner deal, Hezbollah adopted a defensive strategy," the officials say. "What that approach signifies is that there is no need for the Shab'a Farms or prisoners in order to set forth on an attack; from now on we are Lebanon's guardians." An analysis of that mindset shows that the organization will try to act against Israel on an issue regarding which there is a broad legitimate basis in Lebanon, such as the violations of Lebanese sovereignty that the IDF commits, mostly in the air and sometimes at sea. "Hezbollah does not want to risk an Israeli response, but on the other hand it is growing stronger," defence establishment sources say. Because of that, IAF aircraft may be a suitable target for it. Israeli officials further assess that Hezbollah has recently been getting criticism at home and from Iran over the fact that it is not really engaging in armed resistance against Israel, and therefore it will be required to provide an answer to this pressure. The organization did try to carry out attacks abroad against Jewish targets, in revenge for the killing of Imad al-Mughaniyah in Damascus, but those attacks were prevented. IDF sources also believe that Hezbollah needed the prisoner deal in order to score points with the Lebanese public, especially now, two months after the bloody events of May. In those events it became clear that the weapons of the "resistance" are aimed not only at Israel - as Nasrallah never tires of declaring - but rather at the Lebanese themselves. IDF officials further state that Hezbollah has not succeeded in repairing the destruction of the Second Lebanon War, which is considerable in many parts of southern Beirut and in villages in the south of the country. Last week Nasrallah's deputy, Na'im Qassam, said that the account with Israel regarding Imad al-Mughaniyah is still open. Qassam said in an interview to Al-Arab, a newspaper published in Qatar, that his organization would like to avenge his death. |
| Posted by:Fred |