Post by schwartzie on May 23, 2023 17:10:11 GMT -5
Hezbollah Hosts War Drills For Media Amid High Tensions With Israel
BY TYLER DURDEN
MONDAY, MAY 22, 2023 - 08:40 PM
In a rare display of its military potential, the Lebanese fighters of Hezbollah on Sunday staged a series of war drills in front of an audience of invited journalists. The show of force comes as tensions between Israel on the one side, and Hezbollah as well as Palestinians in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza on the other.
Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine said the display “confirm our complete readiness to confront any aggression” by Israel.
The event came before "Liberation Day" -- when Lebanese commemorate the May 25, 2000 withdrawal of the Israeli military from southern Lebanon -- and after Thursday's annual "Flag March" in Israel, a Zionist event that's heavy on racist and genocidal chants directed at Palestinians, such as "Death to Arabs" and "may your village burn."
Hosted at a training site in southern Lebanon, the various displays included the destruction of a simulated Israeli border wall, explosions consuming Israeli flags on hillsides and fighters firing from the backs of motorcycles.
This photo appears to show a Hezbollah team with Russian Kornet anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs)
Safieddine hinted about Hezbollah having a precision-guided missiles, but the group did not display them. According to this video, however, Hezbollah showed off surface-to-air missiles with Iranian sights:
Rockets are a major cornerstone of Hezbollah's arsenal, with some estimating the militia has stockpiled more than 130,000 of them. It's one reason why Hezbollah is often called the world's most-armed non-state military force -- and why the Iran-aligned militia is a meaningful check on Israel's military ambitions.
April saw the one of the largest exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel in recent years. That violence accompanied a broader Palestinian backlash against Israel, sparked by a police raid on Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque the included the brutal beating of Muslim worshippers.
