Retired Israeli general questions military strategy against Hezbollah
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Retired Israeli Major General Yitzhak Brik has expressed serious concerns regarding the Israeli army's capability to defeat Hezbollah, particularly in light of its inability to overcome Hamas.
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Fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah carry out a training exercise in Aaramta village in the Jezzine District, southern Lebanon, May 21, 2023. (AP)
Israeli Major General (Ret.) Yitzhak Brik has raised concerns about how the Israeli army can defeat Hezbollah after its failure to overcome Hamas.
In an article for Israeli newspaper Maariv, Brik acknowledged that "Hezbollah will remain just as Hamas today in Gaza." He asserted that even if "Israel" were to flatten all of Lebanon, turning it into rubble like the Gaza Strip, "Hezbollah will continue to launch rockets and drones at us."
Brik criticized Israeli politicians, stating that "the eyes of the majority of politicians and Israelis have become blind to the reality around them. They see and act based on wishes rather than rational thinking, completely ignoring the facts."
Furthermore, he warned that the current path taken by officials is inevitably leading to disaster.
Attempts to crush Hezbollah will also lead to crushing 'Israel'
Reflecting on the outcomes since October 7, Brik expressed disappointment, emphasizing that "the sad result of the ongoing war of attrition over the past year—one which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi seem reluctant to end—has been the economic and social collapse of Israel, as well as a complete disconnection from the world and the breakdown of the reserve army."
Additionally, the top Israeli figure stressed that wars cannot be won solely with airpower, noting that "the ground forces of the Israeli army have been eroded to the point of near nonexistence by both political and military levels over the past twenty years. As a result, the army cannot provide effective responses or achieve victory."
He emphasized that all Israelis must understand that "continuing attempts to crush Hezbollah will also lead to crushing Israel."
Brik warned, "It is enough for the United States to decide to stop sending weapons to our aircraft and ammunition to ground units, and we will be brought to our knees and forced to comply with what is dictated to us."
Hezbollah has endless launch capabilities: Former Israeli commander
Earlier this week, Israeli media cited the former commander of the Israeli army's air defense, Brigadier General Zvika Haimovich, stating that Hezbollah launched over 180 missiles in one day, emphasizing that the group can fire that number within just one hour.
While emphasizing that Hezbollah has not yet fired to its full capacity, Haimovich noted that he disagrees with the Israeli army's assessment that 50% of Hezbollah's missile stockpile has been destroyed.
He added that Hezbollah's launch capabilities are nearly limitless, essentially inexhaustible. He highlighted that what "Israel" has witnessed in the past two days is only a fraction of Hezbollah's actual capabilities and what it is capable of doing.
His statement came after Reserve Major General Yaakov Amidror, the former Security Advisor and head of the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate's Research Department, said that "Israel" is not even close to destroying Hezbollah's capabilities.
Amidror explained to Israeli Channel 14 that Hezbollah has about 100,000 rockets, and "if we hit 30,000, they still have 70,000, which is seven times what Hamas had." He asserted that Tel Aviv is "very far from defeating or stripping Hezbollah of its capabilities."
In this context, Israeli media reported that Hezbollah "is capable of striking Tel Aviv and paralyzing Israeli airspace and power stations, as well as Air Force bases, despite military operations." The Israeli media added that "the targets will eventually run out, and a war of attrition will begin; we know this from the past."
