In the war between Israel and Hamas one of the hottest fronts is the one in the North, on the border with Lebanon. This is the cradle of Hezbollah, the organization that has returned to the center of the international political scene due to its possible support for Hamas. In recent days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened “destructive consequences for Hezbollah and Lebanon” if the pro-Iranian militia decides to unleash a full war against Israel. “We still don’t know if Hezbollah intends to go into total conflict – said the prime minister – If they did, they would then feel nostalgic for the 2006 war. It would be a fatal mistake for them. We would then strike them with a power that they cannot even imagine, with destructive consequences for them and for the State of Lebanon.” But what do we know about Hezbollah’s military strength and therefore the danger of that northern front on the border with Lebanon? This was discussed in the October 23 episode of Numbersan in-depth program on Sky TG24.
Hezbollah’s arsenal
Analysts consider Hezbollah to be the most armed non-state entity in the world. Hezbollah’s arsenal, according to data from INSS – Alma Research and Education Center, is enormous: tens of thousands of short, medium and long-range rockets and missiles. The latter, theoretically, can reach the entire territory of Israel. Added to these are approximately 2 thousand drones.
Up to 1,500 rocket or missile launches per day
When there was the second war in Lebanon, in 2006, Hezbollah was able to launch 200 rockets or missiles a day towards Israel. Today, estimates from the Israeli Ministry of Defense report that Hezbollah could sustain 1,500 launches per day for a long time.
The Israeli Iron Dome system
Israel, for its part, intercepts the rockets with the Iron Dome system. During the previous Israeli-Palestinian crisis in May 2023, out of 1,469 rockets launched from Gaza, 330 did not reach their destination and 682 were identified by Iron Dome as non-dangerous – for example because they were aimed at uninhabited areas -, while 437 were intercepted . A small part may not be intercepted, and it is precisely this part that can become dangerous for Israel: if the firepower on the other side consisted of thousands of bombs – as in the case of the estimates concerning Hezbollah – there would be a risk of saturation of the Iron Dome’s counteracting capabilities.
Source-tg24.sky.it