With Hamas more or less incapacitated in the south—even though there are still 101 hostages in Gaza—Israel must now address the threats coming Yemen, Iraq, and the northern threat of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel’s enemies have formed a “ring of fire” to attack on every side, but one of the greatest threats comes from Hezbollah. Or at least, it did, until Friday night.
The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said in a speech last year:
“Lebanon was a Christian country, but we took it and now it’s ours. After we kill all the Jews in Palestine, we will just have begun. We won’t stop until every country on Earth is ruled by the law of Allah and the people of Islam, like our prophet promised.”1
Hezbollah took over vast swathes of the Middle East, making a state-within-a-state in Lebanon and effectively ruling over Lebanese and also Syrian people as an arm of the Iranian regime. You might be surprised to hear that much of the jubilation following the destruction of the Hezbollah HQ and its leaders has come from the Sunni world: not only many Lebanese people, but people in Syria and Iran have been rejoicing in the streets at the news: Hassan Nasrallah is no more.
What made Hezbollah so dangerous?
Though a non-state actor, the terror group had the eighth largest missile capability in the world, according to Colonel Miri Eisin, an expert in military intelligence and government spokesperson during the Second Lebanon War. Hezbollah has been consistently firing bombs from the northern border into Israel over the last year, and have reached further than ever before. They have some 150,000 projectiles of varying capability and range, some of which can reach all the way down to Eilat, the southernmost tip of Israel. As well as expanding the number in their arsenal, Iran has been helping Hezbollah upgrade their stock.
Moreover, the terror group have been building a huge tunnel network throughout southern Lebanon, just like Hamas have done in Gaza, in order to invade Israel to murder, rape, and destroy. Israel uncovered a terror plot to do just that—another, more serious version of October 7—and took decisive action to prevent such an atrocity happening.
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Thousands of Hezbollah strikes have been consistently coming all year from Lebanon, making it impossible for tens of thousands Israelis to stay in their homes by the northern border even after a year. Most of the attacks have, for the most part, been carefully contained and managed by the IDF. However more recently, Hezbollah rockets have been hitting more towns and cities all over northern and central Israel, causing a lot of damage. Israel has destroyed the stockpiles of missiles and weapons of Hezbollah stored in southern Lebanon before they could be used, and also eliminated terrorists who were planning an attack similar to the Hamas massacre. So far, there have only been a few missiles coming from the northern border in response. It seems Israel has successfully dealt a blow to Hezbollah, rendering them unable to inflict the damage they were capable of before. There’s a saying in Hebrew pertinent for this time: “Those who are kind to the cruel wreak cruelty on the kind.”
Israel understood that if Hezbollah unleashed their firepower, the Iron Dome would quickly become overwhelmed and unable to intercept all the rockets. The terror group has the capability to fire 1500 rockets, some 3000-4000 on a daily basis—it can fire the same number they used during the entire war back in 2006 every day. The Iron Dome can’t withstand that kind of attack. Stocks will run out and the system can be overwhelmed. It costs about $150 to fire each rocket but over 10x that amount to intercept it. So Israel had to take action first. Terrorists were individually targeted with explosives in their communication devices, taking out not only many terrorists but also their ability to communicate. Next, Israel went after the rocket launchers, which were stored in civilian areas. Urging the Lebanese people to leave the area, Israeli Prime Minister told the people of Lebanon “our war is not with you, it’s with Hezbollah”,2 and warned them to go to the north of Lebanon for safety. Huge explosions were created as Israel bombed the stocks of weapons, creating secondary explosions that looked like something out of a movie.
Israel is fighting the Iranian-backed terror group, not Lebanon, but the world has been horrified by the optics of all these explosions and sees Israel bombing Lebanon. Twelve countries have rallied together to insist on a 21-day ceasefire, although this would benefit no one but Hezbollah. Ironically, the word Hezbollah didn’t even get a mention in their joint statement, overlooking the seriousness and the nature of the terrorist threat against Israel.
Hezbollah is far more extensively armed than Hamas, due to its proximity to Syria and Iran and the ease of transporting equipment. Israel simply is not able to protect everything at the same time, so has had to proactively destroy the weapons before they are shot.
Many are deeply concerned for Lebanon, and rightly so. Please join us in praying for that special country, just north of Israel, and all the people who live there. God knows and loves each one.
God has rescued Lebanese people before, both practically and spiritually. Carine Bassili is a Lebanese believer who was saved in her twenties, and came to love Israel. As a singer, she believes God called her to join with Israelis and make a new song to the Lord. She shares God’s passion for Israel, but also knows His great love for her own people in Lebanon too. In a recent interview, she said:
“It’s his plan, it’s not just something I’m feeling and thinking. This brings me so much courage, confidence, and boldness. It’s hard when I think about the safety of my family but I believe what I’m doing will bring freedom to my people, to Lebanon. We’re exposing lies and bringing truth, bringing Lebanon back to their calling.”3
Carine holds on to the words of Isaiah 29 with its promise of blessing and hope for Lebanon. Pray it with us today, in faith that God will save many both in Israel and in Lebanon—that he will call many out of gloom and darkness and into relationship with the Holy One of Israel.
Is it not yet a very little while
until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
In that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind shall see.
The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
(Isaiah 29:17-19)
Prayer points:
Please pray with us at this critical time!
- Pray for wisdom for world leaders to see that Israel’s fight is with Hezbollah, not Lebanon.
- Pray for Israeli leaders in the government and the army to know what to do.
- Pray for the protection and salvation of innocent people in Lebanon and Israel.
- Pray that Hezbollah would be completely overcome, and for peace.
- Pray that the schemes of the enemy would be exposed and destroyed.
- Pray for salvation in practically ways, but also spiritually: For the preservation of life, and that people would turn to God and find eternal life in Him.
- Pray particularly for our enemies, that God would turn the tables and save many Hezbollah terrorists.
- Pray for the protection of our soldiers, and that many would turn to God at this time.
- JNS on X,
- From a video in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Lebanese people, posted by Hananya Naftali
- All Israel News, Carine Bassili, a Lebanese voice for peace and support of Israel, Jo Elizabeth, September 16, 2024
