'Israel' unequipped for next war: Officials

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The Israeli occupation is not prepared to respond comprehensively when the next Seif Al-Quds takes place, Israeli Occupation Police Force Operations Division Deputy Chief Sigal Bar Zvi said Sunday.

Bar Zvi's warning came at a meeting for Israeli mayors and emergency and security officials, set to discuss "Tel Aviv's" readiness to respond to a major emergency, such as war or a devastating earthquake.

"We will not be able to respond to the full extent of such an event with the resources we have. Guardian of the Walls was a watershed moment, and we are not in a place that can give a real response," she added.

Opening the conference, the head of the Home Front Command of the Israeli occupation forces warned Israeli citizens to brace for the next war, pointing out that the occupation would suffer major losses.

Highlighting how domestically troubled the Israeli occupation is, Major General Uri Gordin noted that the "reality" for the Israeli occupation has shifted dramatically over the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which "Tel Aviv" grossly mishandled, and mainly because of Seif Al-Quds.

Seif Al-Quds had a major impact on the Israeli occupation, damaging the Israeli infrastructure and busting many myths "Tel Aviv" had built around its air defenses.

"The bad news is that in the next war - the third Lebanon war or the first northern war, whatever we call it - tens of thousands of rockets will be launched toward Israeli homes," he explained.

"Thousands of rockets and missiles every day, at Israeli cities, over the entire length and width" of occupied Palestine.

He also acknowledged that the situation would be difficult for the Israeli "home front", stressing that it would be difficult to imagine what would happen in Lebanon.

Warnings from a position of disadvantage

IOF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi warned the people of Lebanon during the conference, stressing that "Tel Aviv" would strike with "immense power".

With bold claims of bombarding Lebanon, the Israeli official also said that the regional situation would become far more difficult as soon as tensions start flaring up, "before the first shot is fired."

Discussions and threats of war come in light of tensions between Lebanon and the Israeli occupation over the Israeli occupation planning to extract gas from the contested Karish gas field instead of waiting for negotiations to conclude with Beirut to determine whether the field falls under Lebanese sovereignty.

The Israeli provocations have prompted a response from Hezbollah, with the resistance movement's secretary-general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, stressing that they would prevent the Israeli occupation from exacting its plans to extract natural gas from the Mediterranean, including by force.

Israeli media had previously reported that the IOF was anticipating Hezbollah's possible response to the placement of the new Energean platform in the Karish field, a contested maritime zone, to extract gas. The new platform was installed on 5 June, at a distance of 80km away from Haifa, by the British-Greek exploration company Energen.

The Israeli occupation said it was prepared to defend the facility they claim to be theirs, deploying naval forces to the area, including a sea-borne version of the Iron Dome SAM battery, the Israeli government-funded Kan TV channel said. The IOF worked on securing the area by means of naval vessels situated both above and below the surface of the sea, including submarines. These preparations, according to the Israeli channel, come in light of the Lebanese warnings against any Israeli "aggressive action" in the disputed waters.