A top Israeli general said today that Israel's offensive in Lebanon would last another few weeks, and he said that the use of large numbers of ground forces had not been ruled out.Exactly as I analyzed and predicted on Friday July 14: (1) how long it would last; (2) how the pace would quicken, and (3) the exact limited military and political goals.
Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky, Israel's deputy chief of staff, told Israel Radio that the army needed more time to complete "very clear goals." He added: "The fighting in Lebanon will end within a few weeks. We will not take months.'' ...
Israel intensified its bombing across Lebanon on Monday, hitting an army barracks in Tripoli and bases in Baalbek, both in the north. It shelled fuel tanks in Beirut’s port and continued pounding southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs. In the afternoon, Israel made a brief ground raid into Lebanon.
Israeli military officials said they succeeded in hitting a rocket launcher in Beirut carrying one of Hezbollah’s longest-range rockets, an Iranian Zelzal, with a range of 62 to 124 miles. The attack caused the rocket to flare in the air, leading to reports that an Israeli plane might have been shot down. ...
The Israeli military wants to continue its largely aerial campaign against Hezbollah, with one senior Israeli official suggesting that Hezbollah’s capacity to launch missiles had already been degraded “about 30 percent.”
Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan, on the Israeli general staff, said, “We have damaged Hezbollah but they still have significant operational capacity.” He noted the decline in rockets launched into Israel in the last two days — an average of 40 a day, down from initial highs of 150 — and said it was a testament to the damage caused by the Israelis. ...
Of the 13,000 missiles and rockets estimated to be in Hezbollah’s arsenal, about 11,000 are believed to have been shipped from Iran. Western intelligence officials also say Syria has armed Hezbollah with short- and medium-range rockets, some of which have been used in the current attacks on Israel. ...
“Israel is making it possible for the Lebanese government to move in,” Foreign Minister Livni said. “In a way, Israel is doing the Lebanese government’s job for it” by taking on Hezbollah, which has been a state-within-a-state in southern Lebanon and southern Beirut.
“Israel shares the same goals as the international community, and for us the best option is full implementation of 1559,” Ms. Livni said. “That’s the way out of this crisis, and now is the time to implement it.”
It will take one more week to destroy 90% of the remaining missiles and rockets and launchers and kill the teams trained in their use. And the leadership of Hizb'allah will either be dead or in exile a week after this occurs.
UPDATE: More proof I was right: JPOST:
Forty to fifty percent of Hizbullah's military capability has been destroyed in the six days of the IDF counter-attack following last Wednesday's Hizbullah raid in northern Israel, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The IDF, it is understood, believes it needs another week or so minimum to achieve its military goals in terms of alleviating Hizbullah's capacity to threaten Israel. The IDF further believes, it is understood, that it will be given at least that long to continue its actions, in light of the G8 nations' essential support for Israel and those nations' branding Hizbullah and Hamas as being responsible for the current escalation.LOOKIT READERS, HERE'S A FACT: I WAS THE ONLY COMMENTER IN ANY MEDIA TO PREDICT THIS. I said 2 weeks; I said it would NOT involve an invasion of Syria; I said that the missiles and rockets were the major focus - along with the leadership. I was RIGHT ON ALL COUNTS.
My remaining predictions are these: a quick "Shwarzkopf-like" invasion to trap the leadership and smash them and the remaining caches of weapons. And an end to these actions between 7/27 and 8/1.
Sadly, I feel it is MOST LIKELY that the kidnapped soldiers will be found murdered - most brutally, as is the fashion with these jihadomaniacs.
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