2006 July War Diary: Sayyed Nasrallah’s Resounding Call on First Day

 July 12, 2021

Al-Manar Website Editor

It was 9:05 a.m. on Wednesday, July 12, 2006 when the Lebanese Resistance movement carried out a cross-border raid in which Hezbollah fighters killed three Israeli soldiers, injured two and captured other two near Ayta Al-Shaab border town.

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The border attack was orchestrated and overseen by senior Hezbollah commander Hajj Imad Mughniyeh. It was dubbed Operation Truthful Promise, referring to a promise made by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah to free all Lebanese prisoners at Israeli jails.

Few minutes after the news was circulated, jubilant Lebanese in southern towns and in Beirut’s southern suburb (Dahiyeh) took to streets to celebrate the Operation Truthful Promise, which was aimed at releasing Lebanese prisoners at Israeli jails through a swap deal with the occupation regime.

At 11:00 a.m., the Israeli occupation started its aggression on Lebanon, by launching ground, air and sea attacks on several areas across the southern towns. The Israeli strikes targeted numerous roads and bridges linking the southern towns with each other, as well as with the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

The Israeli attacks killed three Lebanese and injured at least 20 others, prompting the Resistance to retaliate by firing Katyusha rockets at Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.

At 3:00 p.m., Sayyed Nasrallah held a press conference at Al-Hassanein Mosque in Dahiyeh, in which he clarified the nature of the operation, noting that the aim of it was to release the Lebanese prisoners. During the conference, Sayyed Nasrallah said the Resistance was ready for de-escalation, but warned of ‘surprises’ in case the Israeli enemy chose the escalation.

“Had the whole world ganged up on, captured soldiers won’t return but through one way: indirect talks, full stop,” Sayyed Nasrallah said at the conference.

The Israeli occupation went ahead with the aggression, with attacks expanding to hit more areas in south Lebanon during the afternoon of the day. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed a “very painful and far-reaching response.”

Former Lebanese President Emile Lahoud stressed that the Israeli threats won’t intimidate Lebanese people.

Lebanese government convened late Wednesday (July 12), issuing a statement announcing that the government didn’t know previously about the operation, and condemning the Israeli aggression which targeted Lebanese civilians and vital installations across the country.

Source: Al-Manar English Website

Wednesday, July 12, 2006, at about 9 am, a Zionist military force, of eight soldiers in two Humvees, moved on the internal road that links the colonies of “Zar’it” and “Shtola”, particularly at the border numbering “105”. A group of the Islamic Resistance fighters was waiting for them at the other side in Khallet Warda, which is located in the outskirts of Ayta al-Sha’ab town, on the border with occupied Palestine, the operation goal was to capture Israeli soldiers. The leadership of the operation instructed the fighters to carry out the plan, after the patrol was monitored coming from the direction of “Zarit” settlement to the ambush point. A special unit of the Islamic Resistance, targeted the second “Hammer” with direct shells, resulted in the death of 4 soldiers, in parallel with targeting the first “Hammer” with three “B7” (RPG) shells by another group, with the aim of stopping it, due to its heavy armor. Here, the “Swooping Group” set out towards the first “Hammer”. After the fighters detonated the technical fence with a special device making a hole in it, they crossed the border in the midst of heavy fire cover. They have been waiting for several weeks – intermittently – in “Khallat Warda”, deployed over several points previously determined by the Operation Command. The martyr Commander Khaled Bazzi “Al-Haj Qassem” was assigned the responsibility of the field command of the operation. As for the martyr commander Ibrahim Mahmoud Al-Hajj, “Abu Muhammad Salman”, he was responsible for securing the scene of the operation, by preventing any hostile reinforcements from advancing, hitting and obstructing them in case it happen, where he was appointed to the vicinity of the Ramya site, and was the supervisor of “Khallat Warda”. Hajj Qassem has explored the scene of the operation himself over and over for months before it was carried out. He prepared a plan, carried out training and maneuvers under the direct supervision of the great leader, martyr Imad Mughniyah, “Hajj Redwan”. Many maneuvers were carried out by the team assigned on the capturing operation, in a very similar environment to where it was actually carried out, and a personal presence of “Hajj Redwan”, where he provided precise guidance and operational observations. The fighters reached the first “Hammer”, two Israeli soldiers escaped, one of them was instantly killed while the other one escaped towards a nearby forested land. Two soldiers “Goldwasser” and “Regev” remained in the “Hummer” and were captured. The fighters seized four guns, one team was assigned to transport the two soldiers to the “safe zone”, after exploding the “Hammer” with a special device to clear any evidence that could help the enemy to discover what happened, or to know the fate of the two soldiers. All of this was in accordance with the accurately and carefully prepared plan. His Eminence, the Secretary General of Hezb Allah, Sayyed Hassan Nasr Allah (may God preserve him), called the process “The Sincere Promise,” stressing that “the two prisoners will only return through indirect negotiations or exchange …”. The Central Military Media documented some of the #Sincere_Promise operation, the scene survey by Hajj Qasim, the last maneuver supervised by “Hajj Redwan” and some of his observations, in addition to the scenes of the capturing process.

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