Israeli media: Hoopoe mission major security failure for 'Israel'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
19 Jun 2024 02:40

Israeli media outlets and officials continue to comment on the video published by Hezbollah and address the implications and messages that Hezbollah wanted to convey to "Israel".

A screenshot taken by a video published by Hezbollah as part of the Hoopoe mission shows the Haifa port on June 18, 2024. (Hezbollah Military Media)

Israeli media and officials continue to comment on the video released today by the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, Hezbollah, titled "This is what the Hoopoe came back with," which shows detailed and precise footage of strategic and important bank of targets in northern occupied Palestine. They are discussing its implications and significance.

In this context, Israeli Channel 14 mocked the statements of the Israeli occupation forces' spokesperson regarding false alarms saying that "the false alarms, it seems, filmed Haifa Bay and additional sensitive strategic areas in the north."

The occupation media further said that "the air force is concerned with answering the question of how Hezbollah was able to fly over the most expensive resources of the Israeli army as they are docked in Haifa Port."

They added that "while Hezbollah made us sleep for two days, it ensured to film all our strategic locations in the entire Haifa area." Furthermore, it added that "while Hezbollah made us sleep for two days, it made sure to film all of our strategic sites in the entire Haifa area."

Messages of power

Other Israeli media also mentioned that "Hezbollah's videos convey an unequivocal message to Israel, indicating that the party [Hezbollah] is present inside Israel by air, land, and sea, planning for the future, and capable of delivering severe blows."

Filming these videos is "a first-degree Israeli security failure," adding that "the situation in the north is much worse than we imagine."

Israeli journalist and expert on Arab affairs, Jackie Hugi, said that Hezbollah's video "aimed to send a message that if Israel does not reduce its firepower in Lebanon, the Hezbollah will have to use greater force, and that Haifa is within its reach." He pointed out that this message accompanies the verbal messages that Hezbollah is also sending to Tel Aviv lately.

The recent #Hoopoe mission by the #Lebanese Resistance has incited Israeli frustration, prompting questions about how the drone managed to evade detection over numerous sensitive Israeli sites. pic.twitter.com/I9CX60O7Kz
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 18, 2024

Meanwhile, Or Heller, a military affairs commentator on Israeli Channel 13, confirmed that Hezbollah "wants to show Israel that it has the ability to fly over its airspace as Israel flies over Lebanon."

In turn, Israeli analyst Behadrei Hadarim suggested that "the purpose of publishing about a drone called 'Hoopoe' might be to conceal the fact that Hezbollah has spies launching drones in Israel, as the latter does not know of such a drone."

Additionally, the head of the local authority in occupied Haifa, Yona Yahav, spoke about Hezbollah using psychological warfare against the residents of Haifa and the north through the video it published.

Increased confidence for Hezbollah

Former Shin Bet official, Shalom Ben Hanan, stated that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah "feels increasingly confident as the battle drags on because the nature of the fighting allows Hezbollah to achieve gains all the time during a war of attrition."

In this context, Israeli Channel 12 reported that "Nasrallah stops the fire at his discretion and resumes it at his discretion as well, and publishes this documentation of the Haifa port."

Channel 12 quoted an Israeli security source saying that Nasrallah "is not interested in war," but "is not afraid of it."

Moreover, the Israeli channel pointed out that "the number of rockets fired at northern settlements has exceeded the number of rockets fired from Gaza since October 7th, reaching 5,000 rockets, with about 1,000 homes, roads, vital infrastructure, and public buildings being hit by Hezbollah's fire along the border in the past eight months."

Additionally, it noted that "80,000 dunams of natural forests and woods have been consumed by fires."

Hezbollah is a 'developed army'

In this context, former National Security Council head, Giora Eiland, told Israeli Channel 12 that "Israel uses a wrong term in describing Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, as the party is not that, but rather a developed army unmatched for a long time."

Eiland added that Hezbollah "has 70,000 to 80,000 organized, trained, and well-equipped fighters, present in a very supportive environment, most of which is deeply rooted in the land, allowing for deployment and independence with small forces."

He pointed out that in the past ten years, Hezbollah "managed to close two technological gaps compared to Israel." The first gap is "the precision weaponry gap, and the second gap is drones, some of which have capabilities that are difficult to deal with, such as imaging and striking vital targets, as well as launching missiles," noting that these systems "are no less advanced than the most developed systems" of "Israel".

Eiland concluded that in the event of a wide-scale war with Lebanon, "Israel would make a mistake if it tried to deal with Hezbollah only in military terms."