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Hamas on brink of collapse as chief’s attack proves clear Israeli spy ‘penetration’ | Avi Melamed’s insights quoted by Aurora Bosotti for the Express UK.
However, geopolitical analyst Avi Melamed argued Hezbollah is unlikely to divert from its current “modus operandi” as it could result in dangerous retaliation from Israel, a considerable threat to Iran’s “most valuable” proxy in the region.
The Lebanon-based military organization pledged its support to Hamas immediately after its October 7 incursion into Israel and has repeatedly targeted Israeli infrastructure.
But Melamed told the Daily Express: “Despite calls from Hamas leadership to escalate their attacks further during Ramadan, it’s unlikely that Hezbollah will divert from the modus operandi it has operated under during the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel.
“It is unlikely that after watching the destruction wrought by the nearly five-month Israeli operation in Gaza, Iran would allow its most valuable proxy to risk its political position and its assets in Lebanon for a war that would most assuredly bring about Hezbollah’s destruction and break Iran’s hold on Lebanon.
“Hezbollah at some levels has already begun to withdraw some of its forces, not yet to the Litani [river], but fully understanding that parable that ‘one who plays with matches eventually gets burned’.”
Melamed added: “And understanding that given the trauma inflicted by Hamas on October 7, Israeli public opinion would fully support an Israeli preemptive incursion into Lebanon to mitigate the threat of a Hezbollah-initiated attack on a similar scale.”
EXCLUSIVE: Israel claimed the deputy head of Hamas’s military wing, Marwan Issa, was killed in an air raid on the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Hamas is poised for significant blows to its top leadership as recent Israel attacks have shown a considerable Israeli “penetration” into its structure, a former intelligence officer has claimed.
Israel earlier this week claimed to have eliminated Marwan Issa, the head of the militant group’s armed wing in Central Gaza, during an air strike on the refugee camp of Nuseirat.
Former Israeli intelligence operative Ali Melamed told Daily Express US the successful attack on Issa suggested Israel secured access to reliable on-the-ground informers to calibrate its attacks.
Melamed noted Benjamin Netanyahu also needed to have reliable information to ensure no Israeli hostage was being held near Issa before launching their air raid.
He said: “The success of Israel’s operation against Marwan Issa illustrates the level of human asset penetration that Israeli Intelligence has into Hamas’s remaining forces in Gaza.
“In order to have planned and executed such an operation, with the full cabinet reviewing and approving the plans, Israel would have needed to know where and when Issa was hiding, that he would remain there with time for the cabinet to approve and the IDF to launch the operation.
“And [it] would have needed to confirm that no Israeli captives were being held near him as human shields – something that could have only been confirmed via a human asset. “
The expert added: “Targeting Hamas’s senior leadership is extremely complex due to the Israeli hostages being used as human shields, Israel may be aware of where other Hamas leaders are currently hiding but unwilling to target them due to the hostages being intentionally held in the same places.”
The Israeli military said Wednesday it will go ahead with its planned offensive in the southern city of Rafah — where 1.4 million displaced Palestinians have sought safety — and plans to move civilians toward “humanitarian islands” in the center of the territory.
The United States circulated the final draft of a United Nations Security Council resolution late Thursday that would support international efforts to establish “an immediate and sustained cease-fire” in the Israel-Hamas war as part of a deal to release hostages taken captive during Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7.
The U.S. circulated the initial draft on Feb. 19, a day before it vetoed a widely supported Arab-backed resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in the war in the embattled Gaza Strip, saying it would interfere with negotiations on a deal to free the hostages.
It was the third U.S. veto of a Security Council resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, and has put President Joe Biden‘s administration at odds with much of the world, including many allies.
Diplomatic talks have stalled since efforts failed to produce a cease-fire before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan — an informal deadline that passed without any agreement.
Hamas on brink of collapse as chief’s attack proves clear Israeli spy ‘penetration’ | Avi Melamed’s insights quoted by Aurora Bosotti for the Express UK.
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