by Yusuf Dhia-Allah (News & Analysis, Crescent International Vol. 54, No. 8, Rabi' al-Awwal, 1446)
Prior to the zionist escalation of war on Lebanon, people unfamiliar with psychological warfare would often ask: when will Islamic Iran and Hizbullah launch a full-scale war on the zionist entity to avenge the killing of two top leaders of the Resistance? While the question is valid, it is based on flawed understanding of the prevailing situation.
It is not wise to wage war on the enemy’s terms. The smarter strategy is to force the enemy to fight on your terms. This way, you have the advantage and keep the tempo of war to suit your strategy. Islamic Iran and Hizbullah are waging the war on their terms, keeping the zionist entity on tenterhooks.
Let us elaborate to understand this point properly. Given its overwhelming advantage in military hardware, especially air superiority, the zionist entity has always used it to maximum effect. It is used to waging short brutal wars to destroy its opponents’ war material—planes, tanks, artillery etc—and inflict maximum casualties to cause demoralization. This is what Israel did in its wars against Egypt, Syria and Jordan.
In Gaza, the Israeli army has been bogged down for almost a year now without achieving any of its stated objectives. True, it has destroyed the tiny enclave’s entire infrastructure—apartment buildings, schools, universities, hospitals and even water treatment plants—and killed tens of thousands of innocent people, mostly women and children, but it has not achieved military or political victory.
Its army is exhausted. It has lost a lot of equipment and military commanders have openly admitted that they need at least 10,000 additional soldiers to continue the war because of the number of troops killed, maimed or injured in the war.
Israel enjoys clear air superiority. Its American-supplied war planes and 2000-lb bombs have caused immense damage. Besides, the US continues to provide an endless supply of bombs and other ordnance to keep the zionist war machine going.
Under such circumstances, is it a wise strategy to enter into a direct war with Israel? Besides, it would also draw the US. This is something that Benjamin Netanyahu has always wanted. He wants the US to destroy Islamic Iran to save his own military from annihilation.
That would be waging war on Israel’s terms. Instead, what Hizbullah and Iran are doing is wearing down the zionist entity. It is like boiling a frog in a pot, but increasing the temperature very slowly.
Islamic Iran has painstakingly built what the late general Qassem Solaimani called the “ring of fire” around Israel. In the past, Israel only had to contend with Hizbullah on its border. Now it has to face the Ansarallah of Yemen, the Islamic militias of Iraq, an energized Islamic resistance movement in Palestine and, of course, Islamic Iran.
Let us evaluate what this war of attrition by the Axis of Resistance has achieved. Hamas’s daring operation of October 7, 2023 not only captured hundreds of Israeli prisoners of war, among them several soldiers, but also punctured the myth of Israeli invincibility. The illegal squatters that had lived in the Kibbutzes along Gaza’s borders have fled. They are forced to seek refuge in cities like Tel Aviv, Ashdod and elsewhere.
Hizbullah’s incessant rocket, drone and missile attacks have emptied out the northern parts of occupied Palestine. The illegal squatters have fled south and are now sheltering in Haifa and Tel Aviv. Altogether some 200,000 Israelis have been displaced from the north and south.
Many Israeli military bases and communications towers have been targeted by Hizbullah and put out of action. On August 25, Hizbullah fired some 300 rockets and drones at Israeli military sites as part of its first phase of retaliation for the assassination of its military commander, Fuad Shukr. The zionist entity adopted two contradictory positions.
It claimed that most rockets and drones had been intercepted and little damage was caused to its military installations. At the same time, the zionist regime issued a series of new censorship regulations for the media. These included prohibition on reporting damage caused by Hizbullah rocket to “strategic national infrastructure or to military bases.”
If little or no damage was caused, why the censorship on reporting? Hizbullah Secretary General Seyyed Hasan Nasrallah said this was only the first phase. It was meant to reimpose its deterrence. If the zionist entity continues its mischievous policies, more punishment would follow, he warned.
And then there are the Ansarallah of Yemen. Their achievements are absolutely breathtaking. They have not only blocked all ships carrying goods to Israel but also put out of commission the Israeli port of Eilat which has declared bankruptcy. It stands idle and most of its employees have been laid off.
Since Israel has had to call up reservists for military duty, this has had a severe negative affect on its economy. According to the business survey company CofaceBDI, roughly 60,000 Israeli companies will close this year due to manpower shortages, logistics disruptions and subdued business sentiment. The Bank of Israel has estimated that war-related costs for 2023-2025 could amount to $55.6 billion.
The other effect of the ongoing war and Israel’s failure to achieve its objectives has been to deepen the fissures in society. Israeli politics are a snake pit in which the vipers are ready to bite each other.
Deep disagreements have surfaced between the political and military leadership. Shouting matches at cabinet meetings are now the norm. These are signs of weakness, not strength.
The uncertainty of when and where Iran might strike is exerting immense psychological pressure on the illegitimate entity. Some 500,000 Israelis have fled the country. This was in June 2024 and the number has gone up since. The exodus has prompted an impassioned plea from a former prime minister not to leave. Others are seeking ways to escape.
Retired Israeli generals, among them Yitzhak Brik, have issued dire warnings about the impending doom of the zionist entity. They have expressed fear that if the current situation continues, Israel would collapse within a year. These are not the pronouncements of its enemies; former senior officials have issued them.
Massive demonstrations have rocked Tel Aviv and other cities calling for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli prisoners held by Hamas. Netanyahu displays his ass-like stubbornness because he knows that a ceasefire would mean the collapse of his regime.
The neo-Nazis in his cabinet have threatened to walk out of the shaky coalition resulting in the regime’s collapse. That in turn would lead to Netanyahu’s arrest to be locked up in prison to face corruption and other charges.
His political and military opponents have said precisely this: Netanyahu is prolonging the war to save his own hide. Meanwhile the uncertainty of when Iran might strike is causing immense panic among the ruling elite in the zionist entity. It is not fun to hide in underground bunkers all the time.