The IAF will stop any arms transfers from Iran to Hezbollah and is ready to assist troops in any ground operations.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUpdated: SEPTEMBER 27, 2024 00:37Commanding Officer of the Israeli Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar says the IAF is ready to support a ground maneuver in Lebanon. September 26, 2024. (Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
Israel Air Force chief Tomer Bar said on Thursday in a video published by the IDF that the air force was preparing to assist troops in ground operations against Hezbollah.
The air force will stop any arms transfers from Iran to Hezbollah and is preparing to assist troops in any ground operations against the Lebanese group, Bar stated.
“Now, in Lebanon, we are going to prevent any possibility of weapon transfers from Iran in light of the capabilities we’ve now degraded from Hezbollah,” Bar said.
“[Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan] Nasrallah’s confidence … depends on the supply coming from Iran,” he added, noting that Hezbollah’s functionality and ability to recover from Israel’s strikes were also dependent on the ability to access Iranian resources.
“We are preparing, shoulder-to-shoulder, with Northern Command for a ground maneuver”
“We are preparing, shoulder-to-shoulder, with Northern Command for a ground maneuver. We are preparing. Whether it will be carried out is a decision that is above us,” he told the soldiers present.
A F-15 fighter jet flies during a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots at Hatzerim Airbase, in southern Israel, June 29, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
“What we demonstrated in the Southern Command during the operations in Gaza, with the aerial support surrounding each combat team, down to the individual soldier going in, will be the starting point in the North,” Bar continued.
“The threats [in Lebanon] are greater,” he noted, emphasizing “the importance of this partnership in the combined maneuver, both ground and air.”
“We will continue to apply pressure as needed. The targets are both pre-planned targets and targets that emerge in real-time, using all the capabilities within the air force.”
“The pressure will increase as required, without limitations to specific areas or types,” adding that the IAF was prepared to strike targets located “underground, above ground, in southern Lebanon, and Beirut.”
“Not only the North, Hezbollah has capabilities that reach the Center and even the South. This is our opportunity to degrade them, taking them out from the air and from the ground in an organized manner,” he further stated.
Residents and politicians in northern Israel oppose the US-French ceasefire proposal with Hezbollah, fearing it may lead to future violence.
By EYAL GREENUpdated: SEPTEMBER 26, 2024 10:15Damage in Israel’s North following multiple Hezbollah rocket barrages on September 22, 2024(photo credit: MDA SPOKESPERSON)
In an interview, Metula Regional Council chairman David Azulai emphasized that such a ceasefire would ensure “the next October 7,” for which the government would be responsible, he further stressed. In addition to Azulai, the Upper Galilee Regional Council’s chairman, Amir Sofer, said that while “there is a time for negotiations, this is not the time.”
Azulai explained that recent days have highlighted Hezbollah’s capabilities and that “this government of [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu” must “remove the threat” to avoid another “October 7 next year.” Azulai emphasized that such a situation “must not happen” and that the government “has all the support it needs” to fight Hezbollah and provide a more safe environment for northern Israel’s residents.
“They want to do exactly what Hamas did in the south on October 7,” continued Azulai. He then explains that agreeing with the terrorist organization in Lebanon “without decisively defeating them” will not provide a safe environment for the residents of the north to return to their homes. He added, “From what I read and hear, this is not what we hope for. Remember, we have been in this situation for a whole year. In the past week, the army has fought as it should, as we expect, to bring us back home. It seems we are again taking two steps back.”
“This is a time for war!” stressed Sofer, emphasizing that “there is a time for everything under the heavens… we must not be misled by international pressure.” He then explained that the ceasefire would achieve two things only, “Delaying the return of northern residents to their homes and abandoning those who have not been evacuated.”
Hezbollah members marching with flags during ceremony. (credit: Wikimedia Commons)
He then urged the prime minister to refuse the ceasefire proposal and “stand firm with the northern residents, who have shown remarkable resilience for almost a year.”
Speaking with Maariv, former Shin Ben senior official Yossi Amrosi expressed his opposition to the proposal, emphasizing that peace negotiations with the Lebanese terrorist organization should be “under gunfire.” Amrosi explained that a three-week-long pause in the fighting is, in my opinion, a very long pause and will allow Hezbollah to reorganize.”
He then emphasized that if Israel agrees to a ceasefire on its northern front, then “it must be as short as possible.” Amrosi argued that the IDF is ready for a ground operation in Lebanon and reiterated that the main objective of any operation against Hezbollah is the goal of returning the residents of the north safely to their homes.
Israeli politicians respond
In response to the ceasefire deal reports on X/Twitter, Opposition Leader and Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid welcomed the ceasefire proposal, however, he also wrote that it should have been shorter.
“The State of Israel should announce this morning that it accepts the Biden-Macron proposal for a ceasefire, but only for seven days, to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its command and control systems,” Lapid wrote. He then stressed that Israel should not accept any proposal that does not see Hezbollah driven away from Israel’s northern border.
In addition to Lapid, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also posted on X, emphasizing that the Northern Arrows operation should end “with one scenario: The total destruction of Hezbollah.” He added that a 21 days-long ceasefire with Hezbollah would allow it to “recuperate and reorganize for further attacks.”
Smotrich stressed that the only way to return the residents of the north is either “Hezbollah surrenders” or war.
Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in Southern Lebanon, as it seen from the Israeli side of the border, Sept. 23, 2024.
“Imagine releasing two statements calling for a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon as if the government of Lebanon has any agency and sovereignty,” wrote Jason Brodsky, of United Against Nuclear Iran.
By Menachem Wecker, Andrew Bernard
The United States, Australia, Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar called jointly on Wednesday night for an “immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement.”
Minutes before the statement went out, U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron stated that “it is time for a settlement on the Israel-Lebanon border that ensures safety and security to enable civilians to return to their homes.”
Neither of the two statements referred to Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terror group, which has launched thousands of rockets at the Jewish state since Oct. 8. Israel has targeted launch sites and missiles tied to Hezbollah and has not declared war on Lebanon.
In a call with reporters on Wednesday night, a senior U.S. official referred to the proposal as an “important breakthrough.”
“There is no government of Lebanon,” wrote Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “No mention here of Hezbollah or Hamas.”
“Imagine releasing two statements calling for a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon as if the government of Lebanon has any agency and sovereignty without mention of Hezbollah, which holds the power here,” wrote Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran.
“That’s how disconnected from reality this sounds,” Brodsky wrote.
Kabir Taneja, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, wrote that it is “strange that Biden-Macron joint statement on border conflict between Israel and Lebanon fails to clarify the fact that the military exchange taking place is with Hezbollah, not the Lebanese armed forces.”
‘Non-state actors’
In the press call on Wednesday night, two senior U.S. officials said that they hope that the 21-day ceasefire “might also open up diplomatic space as well to galvanize efforts on the very important primary effort we have to bring the hostages home.”
“During those 21 days, the parties will negotiate towards an eventual resolution of the conflict that has been ongoing since Hezbollah launched the attack on Oct. 8 and to reach a comprehensive agreement along the Blue Line that allows for residents to return to their home in both Lebanon and Israel,” per one of the senior officials.
One of the senior officials told reporters that although the Lebanese and Israeli governments will respond for themselves, “I can share that we have had this conversation with the parties and felt this was the right moment to issue the call based on our discussion.”
“They are familiar with the text, and we’ll let them speak with their actions of accepting the deal in the coming hours,” one of the senior U.S. officials said.
Asked why the call is for a 21-day ceasefire, one of the senior officials said “there’s no real magic formula to it.”
“We were looking for a period of time that would be a sustained space that was long enough to allow for negotiations on a realistic basis—to be able to reach a complicated agreement during that period of time,” the official said. “So that’s why 21 days.”
“We negotiate consistently. We negotiate and we deal with the sovereign state of Lebanon, with its leadership. We have been doing that for months. For the last 48 hours, we have been doing that nonstop all day and night,” one of the officials said.
Asked what it means that the statement addresses Lebanon, and not Hezbollah, one of the senior U.S. officials said that the Lebanese government is “responsible in speaking for the State of Lebanon and for everything that happens on that side of the border.”
“Who they negotiate with and deal with as far as the non-state actors in Lebanon, that is, I think they’re aware of the responsibility that they have to speak on behalf of the country for the state,” the official said.
‘Nobody’s interest’
The joint statement between the 10 countries and the EU stated that a settlement would be “consistent with UNSCR 1701, and the implementation of UNSCR 2735 regarding a ceasefire in Gaza,” referring to two United Nations Security Council resolutions.
“The situation between Lebanon and Israel since Oct. 8, 2023 is intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation,” the countries and the EU stated. “This is in nobody’s interest, neither of the people of Israel nor of the people of Lebanon.”
“It is time to conclude a diplomatic settlement that enables civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes in safety,” the group added. “Diplomacy however cannot succeed amid an escalation of this conflict.”
It called on “all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary ceasefire immediately” and “to give a real chance to a diplomatic settlement.”
“We are then prepared to fully support all diplomatic efforts to conclude an agreement between Lebanon and Israel within this period, building on efforts over the last months, that ends this crisis altogether,” it said.
In their statement, Biden and Macron said that “the exchange of fire since Oct. 7, and in particular over the past two weeks, threatens a much broader conflict, and harm to civilians.
“We therefore have worked together in recent days on a joint call for a temporary ceasefire to give diplomacy a chance to succeed and avoid further escalations across the border,” the duo said. “We call for broad endorsement and for the immediate support of the governments of Israel and Lebanon.”
Philip Klein, the editor of National Review Online, wrote that “now that Israel has retaliated to end nearly a year of bombardment, Biden calls for a ceasefire to spare Hezbollah. He is a disgrace.”
Earlier in the day, Macron appeared to blame the Jewish state for targeting the Hezbollah terror organization.
“There must be no war in Lebanon,” he stated. “We strongly urge Israel to stop the escalation in Lebanon, Hezbollah to cease firing towards Israel, and all those providing them with the means to do so to stop.”
