EXCLUSIVE: US intelligence finds 5,000 Hizballah trained to seize Galilee towns

EXCLUSIVE:
DEBKAfile

This is real scary DEBKAfile

Jones was not talking out of the top of his head, but on the strength of solid US intelligence gathered over months on detailed war plans Iran, Syria, Hizballah and Hamas have drawn up to send five Hizballah brigades sweeping across the border to seize five sectors of Galilee, while also organizing a massive Israeli-Arab uprising against the Jewish state.

Hamas would open a second front in the south and in the east. Syria is expected to step in at some stage.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards instructors at especially established training facilities near Tehran are already well advanced in training a cadre of 5,000 Hizballah fighters in special operations and urban combat tactics to standards equivalent to those current in similar US and Israeli military forces.

At the outset of the course, the group was split up into five battalions, each given a specific northern Israeli sector for capture with details of its topography and population for close study.
(See attached map).

1st Battalion:
This unit will break through the Naqura-Rosh Haniqra border pass and sweep south along seven kilometers to seize Nahariya, the Israeli Mediterranean city of 55,000 - or parts thereof.

UN peacekeepers have their headquarters at Naqura, the other side of Rosh Haniqra, and Israel defenses there are lax, so no military or geographic obstacles to this Hizballah drive are anticipated. This battalion will capture a large number of Israeli hostages for use as live shields against an Israeli counter-attack

A small group of 150 fighters, trained by Revolutionary Guards marines, will also try and reach the coast by swift boats. They are already standing by in Lebanon.

2nd Battalion:

This unit is assigned to capture the northern Israeli town of Shlomi, 300 meters southeast of the Naqura border pass and home to 6,500 inhabitants. Holding this town and its environs will give Hizballah control of a key road hub and stand in the path of Israeli reinforcements heading for Nahariya through routes 89 and 899 from key Israeli bases in the Galilee and Upper Galilee regions to the east.

3rd Battalion:

Driving further south than any other Hizballah unit, this battalion must reach the three Israeli-Arab villages of B’ina, Deir al-Asad and Majd el-Krum, which are located north of the town of Carmiel and alongside Israel’s Route 85 which connects Acre on the Mediterranean with Safad in the central Galilee mountains.

Iranian war planners want Hizballah to control the three Israeli-Arab locations for two advantages:

One: As a commanding position for stirring up the disaffected Israeli-Arab villages and towns of Lower Galilee and Wadi Ara to the south into a full-blown uprising. The incoming combat force will be backed up by clandestine Hizballah cells which for some years have established, armed and funded the underground “Galilee Liberation Battalions” in Sakhnin, Araba and Deir Hana, by means of drug smugglers.

Hizballah’s West Bank cells have been active for some time in the Wadi Ara region, through which National Route 65 connects central Israel to the North.

Two: To gain fire control of Acre-Safed Route 85 from positions in occupied Arab villages and so have a shield ready for the Hizballah units holding Nahariya and Shlomi, and seriously impede the passage of Israeli forces from bases in the center of the country to relieve these northern towns. The Israeli Air Force will be constrained from attacking the areas held by Hizballah by the presence of large civilian populations.

4th Battalion:
This battalion will push southeast into the Kadesh Valley, on the rim of which the Makia and Yiftah kibbutzim and Makia moshav are clustered. Capture of these locations would afford Hizballah fire coverage of Israel’s northernmost Galilee Panhandle.

5th Battalion: Hizballah’s Strategic Reserve.

Rocket attacks from Lebanon will focus on disabling Israel’s strategic military sites, such as air force bases, missile bases, its nuclear facilities and naval bases. Targeting Israeli population centers is a lower Iranian priority.

Syria’s initial involvement will be limited to cover by artillery or air for Hizballah operations. But if the fighting escalates or drags on, Hizballah will invite Syrian back-up forces to go into Lebanon; Damascus will open Front No. 4 against Israel from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.

The Tehran-Hizballah war strategy is all but ready for any contingency. The obvious trigger would be an Israeli military operation against Iran’s nuclear facilities, but once all the elements are in place, they could be activated by any other pretext conjured up in Tehran or Damascus.

In recent weeks, both Hizballah and its Syrian allies have mobilized their forces while telling the Arab world that the Jewish state is about to attack Lebanon.

Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah is straining at the leash to attack Israel however the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program turns out.
Sunday, January 17, he said: “I promise you, in view of all the threats you hear today… that should a new war with the Zionists erupt, we [the Lebanese resistance movement] will crush the enemy, come out victorious, and change the face of the region.

“God willing, Israel, the occupation, hegemony, and arrogance are in the process of disappearing!”

Nasrallah was not alone in anticipating a troubled year for the Middle East.

MYTH “The threat Hizbollah poses to Israel has diminished.”

FACT

Despite the relative calm Israel has experienced along its northern border in 2009, the Lebanon-based terrorist organization Hizbollah has made significant advances in its ability to terrorize and threaten the Jewish State. With support from Iran, Hizbollah has built up its arsenal to surpass the capability it had during the Lebanon War of 2006. The terrorist organization has stockpiled an estimated 40,000 rockets near the Israeli border.³⁴³ In the past, these terrorists used Katyusha rockets to lay siege to Israel’s north; Hizbollah now has missiles capable of reaching up to 300 kilometers into Israel, putting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem well within rocket range.³⁴⁴

On November 5, 2009, the Israeli Navy intercepted the Antiguan cargo ship Francop, en route to the Syrian port of Latakia, carrying more than 3,000 rockets. The rockets, bound for Hizbollah arsenals, were found in crates disguised as civilian cargo labeled IRISL (Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines).³⁴⁵ The weaponry aboard included 9,000 mortar shells, thousands of 107-mm. Katyusha rockets that have a range of 15 kilometers, some 600 Russian-made 122-mm. rockets with a 40-km. range and hundreds of thousands of Kalashnikov bullets.³⁴⁶ Syria and Iran have conspired to arm Hizbollah for years and they have now been caught red-handed in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1747 and 1701, which strictly prohibit Iran from exporting or trading any form of weaponry.³⁴⁷

While this ship was stopped, it is unknown how many other shipments have gone undetected. Deputy Israeli Navy Commander, Rear Admiral Roni Ben-Yehuda stated that though the seizure stopped hundreds of tons of weapons from reaching Hizbollah, it only represented “a drop in the bucket” of what Iran and Syria manage to smuggle to the Hizbollah terrorists.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated the threat succinctly: “Whoever still needed indisputable proof that Iran continues to send weapons to terror organizations got it today in a clear and unequivocal manner. Iran sends these weapons to terror organizations in order to hit Israeli cities and kill civilians.”³⁴⁸

Israel tries to block military aid to Lebanon

By Patrick Galey
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, January 13, 2010

BEIRUT: Israel has launched a diplomatic campaign aimed at countries providing military assistance to Lebanon, warning that any weapons or equipment given to Beirut will end up in Hizbullah’s hands, according to Israeli media. The Jerusalem Post, citing Israeli government sources, reported on Monday that Tel Aviv is calling on the international community to rethink supporting the Lebanese Army.

“The position Israel is trying to impress on countries that support Lebanon is that the Lebanese Army and Hizbullah are virtually indistinguishable,” the paper wrote.

It reported that Israeli concerns are likely to be raised this week during a visit from US National Security Adviser James Jones. Talks will touch on Israel’s refusal to accept the Lebanese Cabinet statement’s article six, which legitimizes the presence of a resistance to Israeli aggression in Lebanon, it added.

“There has been a great deal of concern here,” the paper quoted one official as saying over the resistance issue.

The campaign comes at a time when the US is considering providing Lebanon with support across a wide variety of security, development and reform projects. In talks with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman last weekend, the defeated US presidential candidate John McCain reiterated the US’s “commitment to supporting a strong, independent, and democratic Lebanon.”

Sleiman himself asked Washington in December for greater military assistance.

Simon Haddad, political science professor at Notre Dame University, said that weapons provided by the US would not reach Hizbullah.

“I don’t think that Hizbullah is in need of weapons; they have enough weapons that they can use in future confrontations with Israel,” he said.

Retired Army General Elias Hanna said that the type of support Lebanon received from the US should not concern officials south of the Blue Line, as it was not of use to Hizbullah. (Note - how absolutely naive!BeeSting)

“The US won’t provide Lebanon with anything that will change the balance of power,” he said. “Maybe Israel doesn’t want to add more complexities to its own situation. But this weaponry will not complicate the situation, because what the Americans give will be conventional weapons.”

Since 2005, the US has pledged to provide Lebanon with more than $500 million worth of military support to aid the capacities of its security forces, assist counterterrorism operations and work to prevent arms flowing into the country through its porous border with Syria, according to the US Congressional Research Service. This pales in comparison to the near $3 billion the US provides Israel’s military with annually.

The US State Department has said that military aid to Lebanon would, among other developments, “promote Lebanese control over southern Lebanon and Palestinian refugee camps to prevent them from being used as bases to attack Israel.” But political wrangling has delayed much of the US’ promised military support from reaching Lebanon.

“It’s true that the US is reluctant to provide Lebanon with certain things,” said Haddad, who added that the Lebanese Army command was likely to ask for an increase in US military provisions in the near future.

“[Israel] is afraid of any anti-aircraft missiles being provided to the Lebanese because this could change the status quo, but this is not the current issue,” he said. “The US is not willing to invest militarily in Lebanon, so in any case they would not [provide such weaponry].”

Haddad added that the US could be worried by Israeli warnings of weapons falling into the wrong hands. “The US would like to inquire more about the use of this [military equipment],” he added. “They need assurances.” (Note; How about trusting our ally, Israel, if you need "assurances"!)

Haddad said that irrespective of the military reality, “Israel’s arguments could be used to stop US support [for Lebanon].” Israel has repeatedly said that it will not accept Hizbullah as a member of Lebanon’s Cabinet and periodically warns that all of Lebanon will be held accountable if it is attacked by the group from positions in the south.

Hanna said that Hizbullah’s aims and those of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) were different, as was the military equipment both sought to obtain.

“Hizbullah does not need the LAF, the LAF is totally different from an ideological approach and practical capability,” he said. (Note: Hizbullah is part of the Lebanon government; Israel stated last summer, in so many words, that if they are hit by Hizbullah, blame Lebanon - no longer need to separate the two groups - they are ONE, consisting of all of Lebanon!)

Israel’s reported diplomatic offensive seeking to diminish military assistance to Lebanon in fear of strengthening Hizbullah was unfounded, according to Hanna, who said that US funding was aimed at “local stability, as the Americans will not give us advanced weapons.” “All they want is to make the LAF capable enough to implement Resolution 1701 and keep us from falling as a proxy of Iran,” he said.

Note: I have read this article, the excuses for arming militant governments and organizations, such as the Palestinians, and the fact that the United States is in the game of arming, training, and submitting monies to enemies of an ally is outrageous! It does not matter if more money, aid is give to an ally, as long as one penny is contributed to an ally's enemy! Does not take rocket science to figure this one out! Oh, is $940 MILLION DOLLARS to Gaza a drop in the bucket? Well, that is what the United States handed over to Gaza i.e. Hamas government rules Gaza, so that means our nation is most certainly contributing money to TERRORISTS, under the Obama Administration. BeeSting)
Note: Hezibollah cartoon added by BeeSting