Hezbollah “has bounced back from its unprecedented setbacks” and it is “a formidable foe,” against ‘Israel’, The Washington Post reported on Thursday, quoting Israeli and Lebanese officials.
“After a series of staggering losses, Hezbollah is putting up a stiff fight against Israeli forces in Lebanon’s south while continuing to rain down rockets across the border, underscoring the group’s resilience and the limitations of Israeli ground campaign,” the Post’s wrote.
“When Israel sent troops across the border on Oct. 1, officials estimated military operations would last for a few weeks. More than three weeks later, officials have said they will likely need a few weeks longer, raising concerns over the kind of mission creep that has defined Israel’s past wars in Lebanon,” the paper reported, adding: “A resurgent Hezbollah damaged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in a drone attack over the weekend and has warned a ‘new escalatory phase’ is coming.”
It added that the Lebanese resistance group “has bounced back from its unprecedented setbacks — including the penetration of its electronic devices and the assassination of most of its senior leadership — thanks to a flexible command structure, help from Iran and years of planning for an Israeli invasion,” citing current and former Lebanese officials said.
“They are a formidable foe,” the Post quoted an Israeli military official as saying. He added that “Hezbollah militants are better trained, more experienced after fighting in Syria and armed with more advanced weaponry than in 2006, during their last war with Israel.”
The Israeli official also said that Hezbollah has transformed from an organization to an army.
Regarding the ground invasion, the paper said that “if Hezbollah is able to reconstitute, Israel could find itself drawn into a much longer and more costly conflict.”
Former and current Lebanese officials said the group has regained its footing in large part because it is operating on familiar turf in the south, where it can execute guerrilla-style attacks.
“Hezbollah operatives are using the rugged hillsides and steep valleys to their advantage,” the officials told The Post.
Source: The Washington Post (edited by Al-Manar).
