INTERNACIONAL
Hezbollah terrorists hold ‘massive’ stockpile of Iranian arms, security experts warn
The Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon has a «massive» armament stockpile that is significantly backed through Iranian financing and shared technological weapons development.
Israel’s military carried out a targeted strike that it said killed a high-ranking Hezbollah commander in Beirut on Tuesday following a deadly attack on a children’s soccer field Saturday on Israel’s Golan Heights. U.S. and Israeli officials said all evidence pointed to the Lebanon-based terrorist organization despite Hezbollah’s denials.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also said that the rocket was an Iranian-made Falaq-1 with a warhead containing more than 100 pounds of explosives.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site of the tragedy in Majdal Shams where a Hezbollah rocket attack killed 12 Israeli youths on Saturday. (Photo by Koby Gideon / Government Press Office)
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However, the Falaq-1, according to security experts at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), is just the tip of the iceberg of Hezbollah’s significant military stockpile to pull from for these types of attacks.
Along with an estimated 40,000 combatants at its disposal, Hezbollah is believed to have some «150,000 mortars, short- to long-range unguided rockets, unguided short-range ballistic missiles, and smaller numbers of intermediate-range unguided Scud-B/C/D ballistic missiles.»
Like the rocket used to hit the children’s soccer field, Hezbollah is believed to possess between 40,000-80,000 short-range rockets that «could bombard northern Israel with saturating fire.»
Fighters from the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah carry out a training exercise in Aaramta village in southern Lebanon in May 2023. (AP/Hassan Ammar)
However, thanks to Iranian assistance in weapons development, the terrorist group is also capable of reaching cities deeper into Israel.
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«When Hezbollah first became a rocket threat in 1983, one of the IDF’s chief operational goals was to push the group 40 kilometers north of the border,» authors of the FDD report titled «Analysis: A greatly expanded arsenal means this is not the Hezbollah of 2006,» said. «Hezbollah’s increased medium and long-range fires capabilities mean Israel can no longer rely on strategies that simply push the group north beyond the ranges of its arsenal.»
«The IDF would need to push Hezbollah’s forces north of Tripoli to prevent its reach into Israel,» the report added.
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah delivers a televised speech during a gathering to mark annual Quds Day commemorations in Beirut’s southern suburb on April 5, 2024. (Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images)
Hezbollah reportedly relies on an integrated network of subterranean facilities to store its arsenal, all of which are located under or near populated areas in southern Lebanon, the capital city of Beirut and the Bekaa Valley – an area near Lebanon’s shared northeastern border with Syria.
«This situation presents serious challenges for the Israel Defense Forces and underscores Israel’s requirement for sufficient quantities of munitions to defend its citizens and defeat Hezbollah in a major war that could come sooner rather than later,» the report found.
Attacks by Islamic terror groups against Israel have drastically increased following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel which triggered Jerusalem’s retaliatory war in Gaza – including nearly 3,000 attacks levied against the Jewish state by Hezbollah alone.
An arch glorifying Hezbollah and baring pictures of its chief Hassan Nasrallah, right, and Iran’s spiritual leader Ali Khamenei decorates a street of Beirut’s southern subburb on Jan. 16, 2011. (ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)
Significant amounts of civilian casualties in Gaza have prompted the international community to call on Israel to reach a cease-fire agreement and prevent further escalations in the region.
A spokesperson for the State Department on Tuesday said despite the increasingly escalatory attacks in the Middle East, officials do not believe «an all-out war is inevitable.»
«That’s exactly why we’re remaining focused on diplomacy,» Principle Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters.
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People inspect damaged cars in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. An Israeli airstrike hit Hezbollah’s stronghold south of Beirut Tuesday evening causing damage, a Hezbollah official and the group’s TV station said. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Though Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor for FDD who sat on the White House National Security Council during the Trump administration and who has been sanctioned by Iran, argued that war actually might be «inevitable.»
«But not necessarily today,» he said. «Hezbollah has 200,000 rockets, missiles and drones pointed at Israel, ready to inflict a massive amount of destruction on Tehran’s orders – perhaps at a time when Israel finally takes out Iran’s nuclear program.
«No democracy can live with that kind of threat on its border,» he warned.
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El exgerente del Banco Central canadiense Mark Carney prestó juramento como el nuevo primer ministro de Canadá el viernes, y ahora intentará guiar a su país a través de una guerra comercial provocada por el presidente estadounidense Donald Trump, una amenaza de anexión y unas elecciones federales esperadas.
Carney, de 59 años, reemplaza al primer ministro Justin Trudeau, quien anunció su renuncia en enero, pero permaneció en el poder hasta que el Partido Liberal eligió a un nuevo líder. Se espera ampliamente que Carney convoque a elecciones generales en los próximos días o semanas.
El Partido Liberal en el poder parecía estar preparado para una histórica derrota electoral este año hasta que Trump declaró la guerra económica y amenazó con anexar todo el país como un 51er estado de Estados Unidos. Ahora el partido y su nuevo líder podrían salir victoriosos.
Carney ha afirmado que está listo para reunirse con Trump si éste muestra “respeto por la soberanía canadiense” y está dispuesto a adoptar “un enfoque común, un enfoque mucho más integral para el comercio”.
Trump impuso aranceles del 25% al acero y aluminio canadienses y está amenazando con aranceles generales sobre todos los productos canadienses a partir del 2 de abril. Ha amenazado con coerción económica en sus amenazas de anexión y sugirió que la frontera es una línea ficticia.
La guerra comercial de Estados Unidos y los comentarios de Trump sobre convertir a Canadá en el 51er estado de Estados Unidos han enfurecido a los canadienses, quienes abuchean el himno estadounidense en los partidos de la NHL y la NBA. Algunos están cancelando viajes al sur de la frontera, y muchos evitan comprar productos estadounidenses cuando pueden.
El aumento del nacionalismo canadiense ha fortalecido las posibilidades del Partido Liberal en unas elecciones parlamentarias que se esperan en días o semanas, y los resultados del Partido Liberal han mejorado en las encuestas de opinión.
Carney, quien navegó la crisis al frente del Banco de Canadá desde 2008, y luego en 2013 cuando se convirtió en el primer no ciudadano británico en dirigir el Banco de Inglaterra —ayudando a gestionar los peores impactos del Brexit en el Reino Unido— ahora intentará guiar a Canadá a través de la guerra comercial provocada por Trump.
Carney, un exejecutivo de Goldman Sachs sin experiencia en política, se convierte en el 24to primer ministro de Canadá.
“Le irá muy bien. Es respetado internacionalmente”, dijo el ex primer ministro Jean Chrétien a los periodistas el viernes. Pero, añadió: “No hay una solución mágica. Esta no es una situación normal. Nunca hemos visto a alguien que cambia de opinión cada cinco minutos como presidente de Estados Unidos. Crea problemas en todas partes, no solo en Canadá”.
INTERNACIONAL
Israel faces new Syria challenge as it adjusts to new strategy amid regional power struggle for influence
TEL AVIV — The Israeli Air Force on Thursday struck the headquarters of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in Damascus, Syria, amid ongoing instability in the country following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad by an al Qaeda-linked insurgency.
After the fall of Damascus on Dec. 8, 2024, Israel deployed troops to the demilitarized buffer zone with Syria while also launching a diplomatic offensive to shape the balance of power.
«The deployment of Israeli forces is concentrated around the Syrian [side of Mount] Hermon, the high grounds in that area and below that on the northern part of the Syrian Golan Heights — more or less along, but not beyond, the Bravo Line [marking the end of the buffer zone],» Lt. Col. (ret.) Jonathan Conricus, a former IDF spokesman and now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.
EVANGELICAL LEADER SAYS US MUST PROTECT SYRIAN CHRISTIANS FROM ATTACKS BY JIHADI TERRORISTS
The Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, visited and conducted a situational assessment in the Area of Separation in Syria. (IDF)
He continued, «The primary threat is a ground invasion towards Israeli communities on the Golan Heights by various jihadi elements. Until the political and military situation stabilizes and Israel can have security guarantees that there is indeed a sovereign entity in control of Syria, which will limit the approach by various terror organizations, Israeli troops will be deployed.»
While many global players may be willing to turn a blind eye to the carnage in Syria in hopes of resolving the nearly 15-year crisis, analysts say Israel has no such illusions, prompting the IDF to conduct over 300 strikes in the country, including against Assad regime air force bases and suspected chemical weapons sites, in the immediate aftermath of the regime change.
On Sunday, Israel seemingly upped the ante when the new IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, held a situational assessment in the buffer zone with Syria. Zamir was the first chief of staff to have entered Syria.
«Immediately upon the fall of the regime, [Israel] devastated Syrian military capabilities to make sure some advanced capabilities and air defense [systems] would not fall into the hands of this regime and would be cleared in case Israel has any future desire to overfly [in] Syria,» said John Hannah, a Senior Fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA).
Security forces loyal to the interim Syrian government ride in the back of a vehicle moving along a road in Syria’s western city of Latakia on March 9. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images)
«They’ve [also] set up checkpoints in certain Druze areas right on the border [and] declared their willingness to protect the Druze. Israel has a significant Druze minority of its own who are loyal and good citizens of Israel who fight in its army. So, Israel has a deep domestic concern and interest with making sure that Druze communities near its borders [in Syria] are not subject to the kinds of threats and slaughter that we saw over the weekend along the [Syrian] coast,» he added.
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Some 1,000 Alawites, a minority sect of Shiite Islam, as well as a number of Christians were murdered over the course of a few days last week in the coastal provinces of Tartus and Latakia. The killings have laid bare concerns over the new Sunni Islamist government led by al-Sharaa, commander of the al Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that deposed Assad.
A banner depicting then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin and reading «Justice Prevails» is displayed along a highway in the Syrian capital of Damascus on March 8, 2022. (Louai Beshara/AFP via Getty Images)
Conricus said that the massacres have validated Israel’s strategy, emphasizing that the persecution of the Alawites, Christians, Kurds and Druze population constitutes a danger to regional stability.
«There is a lot of sectarian violence by various foreign jihadi groups, which is a threat. Until only the Syrian state controls the weapons, Israel cannot jeopardize the life of Israeli civilians,» he said.
«We know Hezbollah and Iranian factions continue to try to smuggle weapons into Syria, with Tehran still trying to operate proxies. This is compounded by Turkish imperialistic behavior, which can lead to confrontation,» he added. «I think trying to keep the borders defined by the French at the end of World War I will be a challenge for the Syrian state.»
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Ahmed al-Sharaa Hayat, former al Qaeda terrorist and current Interim President of Syria, in Idlib, Syria, on the border with Turkey on Feb. 7, 2023. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images)
Jonathan Spyer, director of research at the Middle East Forum who has reported from Syria, told Fox News Digital that Jerusalem’s aim is for Syria to remain decentralized and weak, rather than united under the leadership of jihadi forces.
«Turkey is the main backer of HTS, and Israel regards Ankara as a hostile country where Hamas had an active operations office. Turkey has been supportive of Hamas in the war,» he said.
«While Russia is opposed to the global bloc led by the U.S., of which Israel is a part, there is no direct clash between the two nations. Russia did not seek to impede Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran in Syria.»
Israel is reportedly pressuring the Trump administration to ensure Syria remains fragmented, by giving the Russians a green light to maintain its bases in the country to counter Turkey.
People wave guns in the air as they gather to celebrate the fall of the Syrian regime in Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)
In 2015, Russia intervened in Syria on behalf of the Assad regime, setting up outposts in the Middle East for the first time since the end of the Cold War. Jerusalem and Moscow have created a deconfliction mechanism to avoid direct military encounters when the IDF strikes Iranian terror assets in Syria, along with those destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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«HTS is an organization that Israel knows well. It was there for several years prior to fall of Assad and its record shows it is a Sunni Jihadi Islamist organization supportive of [Hamas’] Oct. 7 [massacre] and opposed to Israel and Jews,» Spyer said.
«Israel’s experience prior to Oct. 7, on Oct. 7, and in the Gaza war taught Israelis not to have illusions regarding Sunni Islamists even when they say they are moderate,» he added.
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