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The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain

Hezbollah pounds Israel after peace talks collapse!

by our Arab Affairs correspondent

The Lebanese front exploded last weekend with Israeli “pre-emptive” air raids on Lebanese resistance bases on Sunday, which were speedily followed by Hezbollah missile attacks on Zionist bases in northern Israel and the Golan Heights.

Israeli troops and Zionist settler gangs have launched a new wave of terror against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Hamas says its guerrillas have struck telling blows against the Israeli invaders in the Gaza Strip. And the Palestine Authority, the body which administers the “autonomous” zones in the West Bank, has applied to join BRICS following the economic bloc’s next summit that takes place in Russia in October.

Meanwhile, at least nine Palestinians have been killed after Israel launched a largescale ground and air attack on the northern part of the occupied West Bank. An Israeli airstrike has hit the Nur Shams refugee camp near the city of Tulkarm, and Zionist settlers shot dead a Palestinian and wounded six others in an attack near Bethlehem. The Israeli raid that began early on Wednesday involves hundreds of ground soldiers supported by warplanes, drones and bulldozers, targeting three areas simultaneously – Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas – in the largest assault in two decades.

Last weekend the Lebanese resistance fired hundreds of rockets and drones towards Israel in retaliation for the July assassination of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. Hezbollah had delayed its reprisals against Israel to allow the Gaza ceasefire talks to continue in an attempt to see an end to the Israeli campaign of genocide in the besieged Palestinian enclave. But continuous stalling by the Israelis led to the collapse of mediation efforts last week. Escalation inevitably followed.

The Israelis say the Hezbollah attack was largely foiled by their so-called ‘Iron Dome’ air defences. But they also declared a 48-hour state of emergency and ordered all universities and beaches in the port city of Haifa to be closed until further notice. The Netanyahu government also banned coverage of the damage inflicted by last Sunday’s Hezbollah strikes deep inside northern Israel. Reporters were told to obtain permission before publishing “damage caused by rocket attacks to strategic infrastructure or to military bases” to avoid “harm to Israeli forces on the ground”.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah went on Lebanese TV soon after however, to say “we achieved and surpassed our objectives” after the resistance operation that went “as planned” and caused “great disruptions” inside the occupied lands. The main target of the operation was the Glilot base, just north of Tel Aviv, which houses the Israeli Mossad spy agency and military intelligence agencies. Nasrallah said Hezbollah did not target civilians in its retaliatory strikes. An Israeli naval boat was among the targets hit by Hezbollah rockets and at least one serviceman was killed and two others were wounded in the action.

Meanwhile the Israeli army has announced the death of four of its forces and injuries to seven others as a result of resistance operations in the Gaza Strip. Speaking on Saturday, spokesman Daniel Hagari said the forces belonged to a reconnaissance unit that had assaulted a building in Gaza City’s Zeitoun District three days earlier. Three of the invading troops died after the detonation of a bomb that had been hidden inside one of the building’s walls, while a fourth was killed during a gun battle with resistance fighters.

The regime claims that the deaths have taken the total number of the forces who have been killed during the Gaza war to 336. Though the regime under-reports the fatalities to maintain the morale of its forces and restrain the backlash from those demanding a ceasefire that could enable the return of the Israeli prisoners in Palestinian hands, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth (Latest News) reported that at least 10,000 Israeli soldiers have been killed or wounded in the 11-month conflict.