As details of ‘Op. Arbaeen Day’ emerge, Israel truly is weaker than spider's web

By Wesam Bahrani

Amid the sweeping information war being waged by Zionists, it is unfortunate that the puppet regimes of the United States in this region overlooked a very major development that changed the military equation against the Israeli occupation.  

Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen TV quoted European sources as saying that Hezbollah's retaliation for the assassination of senior commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut killed 22 and injured 74 others.

It came on August 25 in Hezbollah's drone strikes against the headquarters of Unit 8200 in Glilot base, as part of "Operation Arbaeen Day," as it coincided with Arbaeen, the 40^th day after Ashura when Imam Hussain (AS) and his companions were martyred in the desert plains of Karbala 14 centuries ago.

A day before the revelation, Hezbollah hinted that it provided the news network with the evidence.

Tel Aviv is equipped with seven layers of air defense systems to protect the nerve center of the Zionist occupation. The fact that Hezbollah drones evaded all these systems and hit one of the most sensitive facilities of the Zionist regime was a huge achievement.

What made this military feat bigger and greater was the manner in which it was executed by the Lebanese resistance movement that has been carrying out daily operations against the Israeli occupation in response to the genocide in the Gaza Strip.

On the other hand, the Zionist claims of destroying 8,000 Hezbollah rockets in preemptive strikes on August 25 have already been debunked.   

However, the Zionist army certainly launched an attack before the Hezbollah retaliation that lasted for around 30 minutes when residents in southern Lebanon reported very heavy airstrikes.  

“Operation Arbaaen Day” was launched in the wee hours of the morning after Hezbollah resistance fighters performed dawn prayers. As they were praying, the Israeli strikes were reported. Moments later, the Lebanese resistance, despite the fiercest Zionist airstrikes since 2006, swung into action.

Within 30 minutes, under heavy fire, they set up the launch pads and executed the unprecedented military operation with perfection. Later, they returned to areas that were targeted by Israeli airstrikes to launch projectiles, once more, from the same areas. At least 340 Katyusha rockets were fired.

Barely ten to fifteen minutes later, the second phase was launched. A barrage of drones was fired, first toward Haifa and nearby areas, followed by Tel Aviv. Dozens of drones were also launched.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in a speech on the same day said they will wait and assess to see “if the results are satisfactory for us".

Three days later, the command centers of Hezbollah confirmed with absolute confidence that six drones had struck their target: the building that housed the headquarters of UNIT 8200 and that there were major human and material losses but Hezbollah didn't have the exact figures.

Ten days after the operation, Hezbollah confirmed the exact number of casualties at Glilot.

"Why hasn’t the occupation organized a media tour or brought government officials to the targeted bases to counter the resistance's claims,” Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem stated.

"Why has there been a media blackout on the operation? Why impose a security cordon around the area if, as they assert, the operation was a failure? And why did the head of Unit 8200 resign now, if it was related to the events of October 7?"

From a military point of view, the headquarters of Unit 8200 in Glilot base, a thousand or so meters from Tel Aviv, being bombed by Hezbollah means it is game over for the illegal Zionist occupation.

Hezbollah, as many have already assumed by now, has gained military strategic advantage over the US-backed Israeli military and events witnessed in recent months bear testimony to it.

Adding to the evidence of this successful operation by the Lebanese resistance is the resignation of the commander of Unit 8200 itself, Yossi Sariel, on the same day when casualties were revealed.

Sariel cited failures over Hamas’ Operation Al-Aqsa Storm on October 7 last year while it is becoming increasingly evident that his resignation is linked to failures on August 25.

And, he hasn't been seen in public since, leading some to believe he may have died in the attack.

There is consensus among experts close to Hezbollah that Tel Aviv knew in advance that the Lebanese resistance in southern Lebanon got intelligence on the damage and casualties at Glilot base.

In a desperate bid to take attention away from this historic attack, the Zionists planted fake news about Israeli commandos entering Syria's Masyaf, raiding an Iranian (or Hezbollah - the plot has no ending) underground arms storage site and abducting two Iranians.

The story was straight out of a classic Hollywood movie. Iran, as expected, dismissed it.

The Islamic Republic has a track record of acknowledging the fate of its nationals abroad. Whether it is diplomats abducted in Lebanon in 1982 or military advisors martyred in Syria over the past few years.

The New York Times had a field day with the Zionist story. Other regional media outlets followed suit. But Al Jazeera Arabic, which has been very supportive of the Palestinians in Gaza appears to still hold some grudges over the failure of regime change in Syria.

It also fell into the Zionist trap by overlooking the main news item.

Instead of analyzing the casualties in Glilot, it chose to go with rolling coverage inviting a panel of analysts that included a retired Lebanese general who spoke absolute twaddle.

The Zionists haven't produced a single piece of evidence to prove the media reports on the abduction of two Iranians and an unheard-of retired Lebanese general. Only airstrikes took place at Masyaf.

This was a Zionist attempt to distract the media after Tel Aviv got the news that Hezbollah had received confirmation about the extent of the damage to Unit 8200 and within hours it would be published.

Essentially, the matter boils down to whether you believe the Hezbollah narrative or the Zionist narrative.

What the media should be asking its analysts is "Give us one false statement issued by Hezbollah and give us one statement of truth issued by the Zionists". That’s the key question.

One side has a history of loyalty to its supporters. This is Hezbollah. Before and after October 8, when it joined the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, the Lebanese resistance has walked the talk.

Hezbollah announces the names of its martyrs (on the path to al-Quds) soon after they are identified. And it announces the names of civilians killed by Israeli attacks before Lebanese hospitals do so.

On August 25, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said with all transparency that Hezbollah doesn't know the full extent of the damage on Glilot. But added that the days and nights ahead will reveal it.

The Zionists like to hide their casualties and losses. Only when a newspaper opposed to Netanyahu's cabinet leaks hospital data do we learn that hundreds have been killed and thousands injured.

Benjamin Netanyahu himself stood in front of the US Congress, delivering the most important speech of his life, and talked about the courage and bravery of his soldiers on October 7.

In the heart of Tel Aviv, this day is remembered as the most embarrassing and biggest intelligence and military failure since the founding of the illegal Zionist occupation.

This is the track record of Netanyahu, filled with lies and deception to his own settler population. And these are the same Zionists, who go on TV and repeatedly state not a single civilian has been killed in Rafah. This is while babies have been burned alive and beheaded in Rafah, let alone tent camps set ablaze in the middle of the night by US bombs dropped from the sky.

On the day of ‘’Operation Arbaeen Day’’, the Hezbollah chief said "A significant number of drones hit their intended targets, but the enemy is keeping all relevant details concealed, but the days and nights will reveal the truth of what happened there".

The truth is emerging and most likely more evidence will be revealed. It might even be video evidence. The days, weeks and months ahead will bring out more facts about it.

What Netanyahu came to understand very well after August 25 is that Israel is indeed “weaker than the spider's web". 

Wesam Bahrani is an Iraqi journalist and commentator.

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV.)

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