Follow Steve Postal: @HebraicMosaic

———

While the Biden-Harris administration pushes for a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, Hezbollah murdered seven people in two missile attacks in Haifa and Metula.  This marks the deadliest day inflicted by Hezbollah on Israel since Hezbollah’s rockets murdered 12 Druze children in a soccer field in Majdal Shams in July.

In any ceasefire, Israel wants the ability to strike in the event that Hezbollah attacks. As this is a non-starter for Hezbollah and Lebanon, the Biden-Harris administration needs to abandon the ceasefire fantasy.

Instead, what Israel needs is operational freedom to continue to dismantle Hezbollah. And Israel continues to make significant gains against the terror group. In the past week alone, Israel has:

1. Continued To Eliminate Arch-Terrorists

The IDF killed Mustafa Ahmad Shahdi, who was the Deputy Commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces. Shahdi had been responsible for orchestrating many terror attacks in Israel and for orchestrating battles against IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon. Shahdi had previously led the Radwan Forces in Syria from 2012-2017. The Radwan Forces were responsible for preparing for a failed October 7-like attack on Israel from Lebanon.

The IDF eliminated Muhammad Khalil Alian, the Commander of Hezbollah’s Anti-Tank Missile Array of the Hajir arena in Hezbollah’s ‘Nasser’ Unit.

The IDF eliminated three additional Hezbollah arch-terrorists, including Ahmed Jafar Maatouk (Commander of Hezbollah’s Bint Jbeil Area), Maatouk’s successor, and the head of artillery for Hezbollah. These three terrorists had orchestrated several attacks on IDF troops from the Bint Jbeil area.

2. Continued to Destroy Hezbollah Infrastructure

The IDF eliminated a Hezbollah cell in the group’s Aerial Defense Array, and also hit a Hezbollah command post. Both of these sites were embedded in civilian infrastructure in Beirut.

The IDF attacked command centers and weapons depots belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces and its Munitions Unit in Al-Qusayr, Syria. The Munitions Unit stores weapons for Hezbollah, and the group had recently expanded into Al-Qusayr. Israel has also been targeting Hezbollah Unit 4400, which smuggles weapons from Iran to Syria to Lebanon.

The IDF discovered more sites belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces in Lebanon, including a fully stocked “underground hideout,” and four weapons storage facilities that housed RPGs, rockets, mortars and other weapons.

The IDF also attacked Hezbollah command and control centers in Baalbek and Nabatieh in Lebanon. The IDF dismantled an additional underground Hezbollah command center. The command center was about eight meters underground and housed half a ton of explosives stockpiled by Hezbollah in preparation for attacking Israel. Chief of the General Staff LTG Herzi Halevi put it succinctly: “We have been saying for years that Hezbollah is preparing the area of the border for war. To the countries that doubted it, to the UN, to the UNIFIL force that was [stationed] up here…We caught this in time, before it was too late, and this infrastructure must not return here in future generations.”

The IDF destroyed 130 ready-to-fire launchers, and confiscated 4 armed mobile launchers that had about 160 ready-to-fire rockets. The IDF seized 11 truckloads of weapons from underground compounds in southern Lebanon. These weapons included “Kornet missiles, launchers, hand grenades, various types of rifles, and other weapons.”

And lastly, the Israeli Air Force bombed fuel storage in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon. This fuel was stored by Hezbollah’s Unit 4400 for use in future attacks against Israel.

While the Biden-Harris administration continues to push for a ceasefire in Lebanon, Israel should continue to pursue victory against Hezbollah.