Monday 8 June 2015

The Resistance Fights Two Enemies... on Two Fronts...The Strongest on Both Battlefields

When the Secretary General of Hizbullah His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announces something, the enemy listens attentively even before the Resistance's opponents or friends. The Zionist enemy has frequently put to the test the pledges of the leader of the resistance, and his pledges were put into effect and proven true by the hands of the mujahedeen.

The entity's officials not doubt listened very well to the latest words of the Secretary General on [The Resistance and] Liberation Day: ‘Not a day has passed on this Resistance in which it has had more experience, numbers, power, and presence , than it has today'. These are words that ought to be considered seriously by the enemy's military leadership, and by military experts.

Retired Brigadier Mohammed Abbas is one of those experts. Abbas explains that the resistance was able to adapt to war on two fronts, a front with the Zionist enemy on the one hand, and a front with the terrorist takfirist enemy on the other. The Resistance accumulated experience from the war in Syria, and the "Israeli" enemy has spoken about this fact and repeatedly expressed its concerns over it.

Observers are well aware that the Resistance has reached - in terms of its role and preparedness - to an advanced and unprecedented level. Since its birth in 1982, defeat or retreat was not in the mind of the resistance. Rather, its leaders Sayyed Abbas al-Moussawi, Sheikh Ragheb Harb, and Hajj Imad Mughnieh, worked to make [the Resistance like] the blood of the martyrs, growing constantly in its influence. Within this context, the military expert, retired Brigadier General Amin Hoteit, explains the stages of the evolution of the military activities and structure of the resistance since its inception. He divides the evolution into five stages.

The first phase of the beginnings of the resistance was still "primitive" according to General Hoteit. At the time, reliance was on light weapons and the novice fighter, as well as very limited organisational capabilities. However, the points of strength at that stage were the willingness to fight and sacrifice. However, while there were high numbers of martyrs, the battlefield achievements were low. This equation forced the resistance to resort to what is known militarily as "human bombs", or martyrdom operations.

In the second phase, Hoteit explains that Hizbullah gained experience, and developed its weaponry according to its potentials. In terms of the fighter, the recruitment process changed from basic recruitment with some elementary instructions on the use of some weapons, to a fighter trained for a particular type of weapon and military operations. The fighter would go out of his way to keep secret the information that contributed to the success of the mission. In terms of weapons, reliance remained on light weapons, which included the rifle, the "RPG", and the explosive device of limited size.

Hoteit adds that this stage was characterized by two points, the first is the ability to attract fighters to join training courses, and the other saw the Resistance begin to receive weapons [from Syria and Iran] within the absorptive capacity [of the group].

The qualitative leap of Hizbullah on the military level occurred in the third phase. This phase saw the onset of the organisation of specialised military cells, otherwise known in military science as the "formation of arms." That is, the transition towards using missile firepower capabilities accurately and scientifically, whereby Hizbullah prohibited the indiscriminate use of missiles. In addition, a rigorous launching system was selected, in terms of time, place, intensity and pattern.

General Hoteit also points out that this stage witnessed the transition from limited training courses to in-depth training camps. He says, "Here Hizbullah moved from fourth-generation fighting [small guerrilla cells] to fighting which depends on fire and movement, and the good use of land. This stage caused severe pain for "Israel", to such an extent that it launched the 'Grapes of Wrath' on Lebanon." This stage is also characterized by a rise in battlefield achievements, and a fall in the number of martyrs.

As for the fourth stage, it was a development of the third stage in two ways. Regarding firepower, there was an expansion of the effective fire range, whereby Hizbullah moved from a range of 25 to 30 km, to 100 to 130 km.

Also in this phase, Hizbullah advanced with regards to modern technical issues monitoring and signaling weapons, and was skillful in the use of information technology, surpassing many armies in the region.

Furthermore, Hoteit points out that in terms of training, it was during this stage that the development of the "specialised fighter" was completed, as well as the fighter that enjoys several specialties. In addition, the military leadership structure was also completed.

This phase was also characterized by the acquisition of Hizbullah's fighting units of dual-combat experiences in limited attacks, as well as specialised and coordinated attacks. These capabilities were used in the July 2006 aggression, where Hizbullah invented at this stage the idea of continuous military evasion. This strategy confused the enemy. In phases 4 and 5, the resistance abandoned the use of "martyrdom operations", thanks to its advanced capabilities.

Hizbullah today is at an excellent stage of development. During the fifth Phase, which began after 2006 and continues till today, Hizbullah encompassed within it everything that can be read in the military history of resistance warfare. Hizbullah no longer resembles anyone from a military definition, and has approached more to the image of an army. However, it has done so without giving up on the positive characteristics of resistance warfare, while also avoiding the negative aspects of the so-called heavy movement of armies.

Hoteit explains that the percentage of actual fighters in armies out of the total number of personnel usually ranges from 35 to 50%, and the remaining numbers serve the fighters. However, in the Resistance, the proportion of combat units range from 70 to 80%, and this is very important, according to Brigadier Hoteit.

The resistance today expanded its land firepower capabilities in an unprecedented way, till it reached a range of 130 to 150 kilometers, and now covering all of occupied Palestine with its firepower, Hoteit confirms. He adds that "Hizbullah entered the world of airspace monitoring, and it owns an air defense system which drives away nearby dangers, and a sea defense system which it used in the year 2006 - and developed thereafter -, and the Kornet (missile system), which is the largest anti-armor defense system".

As for the most serious development, according to Hoteit, it is the occupation of regions (in Syria, clearing them out of militants and controlling them. Therefore, what some enemies of the resistance considered to be a period of attrition for the latter on the Syrian front, Hoteit sees it as an opportunity that facilitated the development of the resistance's military activities. And this is what facts confirm.

Brigadier General Abbas says that "the fighting of the resistance fighters on Syrian territory enabled them to gain the ability to wage offensive war, and gave them the capability to fight wars that resemble classical ones intertwined with guerilla warfare". Abbas stressed at the same time, that the enemy in Syria is a fierce one that holds an ideology, yet despite that fact, the resistance scored unprecedented achievements in the battlefield", and "Israel" reads this very closely.

The confidence that the resistance has in its capabilities and power has begun to reflect fear and concern on the "Israeli" side. To such an extent that even the mere appearance of a reporter from "al-Manar" at a nearby location from a hostile armored tank, caused fear in "Israeli" soldiers and moved them to hide in their tanks and retreat a number of meters backwards.

In this regard, after "al-Manar" showed a video of its colleague Ali Shoaib appearing on the border with occupied Palestine, and the retreat of the enemy soldiers hiding inside their armored vehicles out of fear of the camera, Ehud Bari, an Arab affairs correspondent for the "Israeli" Channel Two said that "Hizbullah wants to say to the "Israeli" army that it is able to do what it wants and has easy targets, but at this stage it does not want to launch any operations".

He added that "Hizbullah wanted the "Israelis" to understand that its involvement in the Syrian arena does not mean that it he has stopped the monitoring of Israeli soldiers in the north." The reporter cites the words of the Secretary General of Hizbullah when he "emphasized in his recent speech on the close monitoring of the soldiers of the Israeli army on the border."

The special military operations of the Islamic resistance in Arsal against the ‘Ghuraba' Brigade of the terrorist Nusra Front, the branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, have raised the concern of the Zionist enemy. In addition to the declared "Israeli" fears of the possession of Hizbullah capabilities that enable it to occupy the Galilee region, especially after Sayyed Nasrallah's threat in this regard, a new threat emerged on the battle front with "Israel". This threat comes in the form of the unmanned drone of the resistance.

Military expert Mohammed Abbas considered that the launch by the resistance of the unmanned drone demonstrates its ability to innovate, as "the resistance owns weapons which always surprise the enemy." He believes that the resistance, which owns unmanned aircraft equipped with cameras, is certainly able to arm these aircraft with missiles and munitions, "and therefore has the determination and ability to possess the required technology" to face the enemy.

An "Israeli" Channel Ten report confirmed that "Hizbullah's use of this advanced weapon would raise fears", while indicating that "the existence of such a weapon, that is, an unmanned attack drone, means that they do not only receive pictures and transmit them for intelligence (purposes), but rather, they can also be used for assault missions ".

In conclusion, Hizbullah today constitutes a unique system of fighting, more powerful and effective than at any other historical stage it has experienced.

06-06-2015 | 10:31

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