Maariv: Hezbollah’s scenarios to confront Israel if it decides to expand its operations further in Lebanon
The Israeli Maariv newspaper reported that the only option that Hezbollah would prefer is to reject the Israeli conditions, and its readiness to fight for several months under scenarios that assume the Israeli army to advance further inside Lebanon, and perhaps reaches Beirut.
“Hezbollah has no choice but to say no to the list of Israeli demands,” according to Maariv.
“The fact that the organization’s members stand firm against the Israeli army and fight gives them the scope to reject the dilapidated place they have brought Lebanon to in terms of destruction, displacement and loss,” an article said.
Maariv pointed out that “if they kneel, it will be considered a humiliation for years to come,”
The Israeli newspaper cited the statements of the new Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, in his speech a few days ago that this war is for “our lives, our future, and the future of generations”.
According to the article in Maariv, “Hezbollah believes that Israel intends to continue fighting for several months, and even reach Beirut with a ground operation as it did in 1982,” noting that “Hezbollah remembers history better than Israel… It’s true that they are losing terrorists, but that is why they exist: to fight and sacrifice”.
“They will wait for the Israeli army in Beirut, and there they will hope to achieve victory… If they don’t win, at least they will know that they didn’t raise the white flag”.
The article continued, “Despite all of the above, Israel has a significant advantage over its enemies,” as Maariv noted that Hamas has been dismantled by the IDF, and Iran is now deterred… Thanks to Hezbollah, the security establishment has been widely exposed to have a secret weapon (intelligence), the ability to know the whereabouts of all enemy leaders at various levels and attack them directly, a mysterious and unprecedented means”.
Maariv pointed out that the past taught us that this advantage is temporary, and therefore it’s better to exploit it for a political victory and for arrangements that benefit Israel.
“Israel must be smart enough to take advantage of this current superiority,” Maariv warned, adding that “if it misses the opportunity to shape reality when its enemies are defeated, its current advantage may be lost, and the enemies will regain their capabilities and seek to fight again, as they did after every conflict in the past”.
