The Israeli military began a fifth round of massive air strikes on Hezbollah at around 6:30 a.m. on Monday, mainly in southern Lebanon and further from the border than in some previous cases. Since Monday morning, the Israeli military has attacked over 150 targets with dozens of fighter jets from all squadrons of the air force.
There were also significant attacks on Hezbollah deep in Lebanon, in the Bekaa Valley.
The chief spokesman of the Israeli Defense Forces, Daniel Hagari, issued a comprehensive warning to the population in southern Lebanon for the first time: If people have not already left their homes and other civilian buildings in which they live and stay, but where Hezbollah has stored rockets or carried out other actions, they must now leave these areas.
Hagari’s warning was unusual and different from previous warnings of mass evacuations from Gaza.
The warning was the first mass evacuation warning to the population in southern Lebanon regarding the areas where Hezbollah operates.
In this sense, hundreds of thousands of civilians in southern Lebanon have left the areas that Israeli forces have been attacking for several months.
Therefore, a warning was issued to those who had not yet been evacuated.
Footage of the attack on the cruise missile, the terrorists and the house where the cruise missile was located (IDF)
No complete evacuation
However, the Israeli forces did not ask civilians in southern Lebanon to leave the area completely and move to another, more distant, designated area.
It was not clear where the Israeli forces would suggest the evacuated civilians permanently move if their homes were actually bombed because they were storing terrorist assets there.
In addition, it was not an evacuation of the Gaza Strip, as Hagari had not yet indicated that the Israeli armed forces would invade with ground troops. Rather, they would strike with increased intensity from the air, including against civilian sites where terrorists are active.
To support his argument, Hagari cited the example of a civilian position in southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces observed a few weeks ago how Hezbollah demolished some walls to set up a camouflaged civilian position for launching a Russian-made DR-4 cruise missile loaded with hundreds of kilos of explosives.
“We are exposing Hezbollah’s tactic of hiding a cruise missile in a residential building. The terrorists have created a special opening to launch the missile,” Hagari said.
Hagari said the cruise missile was smuggled to Hezbollah through Syria and posed a far greater threat than typical Hezbollah missiles because it flew lower and faster, unlike missiles that fly slower and in an arcing trajectory.
Next, Hagari showed how Israeli forces observed Hezbollah terrorists leaving the area.
Finally, he showed how Israeli forces, together with Hezbollah terrorists, blew up both the cruise missile and the civilian site where it was hidden.
“Here you can see how we identified the terrorists as they drilled an opening in the building, releasing the missile. With a targeted strike, the Israeli forces neutralized both the terrorists and the missile launch site, just moments before the planned launch,” Hagari explained.
One of the purposes of Hagari’s public statements, which are subtitled in Arabic, was to warn civilians in southern Lebanon and urge them to leave those areas. Another purpose was to pre-empt Western criticism of the attacks on civilian areas and to explain the Israeli army’s justification.
Under international law, civilian areas can be attacked if warnings have been given and those areas have been used for military purposes.
In addition, the IDF said it shot down attempted airstrikes from Iraq around 4:00 a.m.
Hagari’s warning
Hagari warned Lebanese civilians, stressing: “Hezbollah is endangering you and your families. Hezbollah plans to use weapons against Israel. For your own safety, you should immediately distance yourself from the attack.”
“We expose Hezbollah’s tactic of hiding a cruise missile in a residential building. The terrorists created a special opening to launch the missile,” he added.
In addition, the IDF sent text messages to citizens of southern Lebanon urging them to stay away from Hezbollah structures, Israeli media reported.
“If you are in a building containing Hezbollah weapons, leave immediately until further notice,” said the text message sent to civilians.
צה”ל שלח הודעות טקסט לתושבים בדרום לבנון להתרחק ממבני חיזבאללה: “אם. That’s not the case חדשה”@ItayBlumental @kaisos1987 pic.twitter.com/hAg5wnXEjc
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) 23 September 2024
In addition, Haragi addressed the evacuated citizens of northern Israel, saying he would “do whatever is necessary to return the citizens their homes and ensure their safety.”
“We will do whatever is necessary to return the citizens of the north to their homes. We are conducting a covert operation and will continue to do so to protect the citizens of Israel,” Haragi stressed.
Hezbollah’s human shields
According to Ynet, Hezbollah launched a secret initiative ten years ago to offer financial incentives to Shiite households in southern Lebanon if they made a room in their home available for a long-range rocket launcher. The rocket, carrying a heavy warhead, would then be ready to launch from that room. The room would have a removable roof so it could be fired quickly.
Ynet added that Hezbollah targeted poor Shiite families who needed additional income. Hezbollah reportedly bought plots of land and built residential houses on them, offering them at a reduced price or for free if the families agreed to store rockets.
Can neither confirm nor deny whether Sinwar is alive
When Hagari was asked when the IDF last received a sign of life from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Hagari replied that he could neither confirm nor deny whether Sinwar was alive.
This question from the press to Haragi came after speculation and reports circulated on Sunday that Sinwar had been killed.
“I can neither confirm nor deny what has come to light about Sinwar’s situation in recent days,” Hagari said.
“We have a mission – to reach Sinwar, and we will,” he stressed.
