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Israel Concerned over Hezbollah’s Possession of Russian Air Defense Systems

Smoke rises as seen from the village of Wazzani, near the Lebanese-Israeli border in southern Lebanon, August 6, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
Smoke rises as seen from the village of Wazzani, near the Lebanese-Israeli border in southern Lebanon, August 6, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
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Israel Concerned over Hezbollah’s Possession of Russian Air Defense Systems

Smoke rises as seen from the village of Wazzani, near the Lebanese-Israeli border in southern Lebanon, August 6, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
Smoke rises as seen from the village of Wazzani, near the Lebanese-Israeli border in southern Lebanon, August 6, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher

The Israeli army is concerned about what it describes as a significant change in the concept of air defense by Hezbollah in Lebanon, following the party's doubling of the number of air defense systems in its possession, according to Israeli Army Command sources in Tel Aviv.

Israel believes that Hezbollah plans to restrict the freedom of action of the Israeli Air Force in Lebanon.

They claimed that "Hezbollah's decision to restrict the Israeli Air Force with available Russian air defense systems, SA8 and SA22, is a fundamental change in Hezbollah's strategic concept, within which attempts are being made to restrict the Israeli Air Force's freedom to operate during normal hours."

Israel's Maariv newspaper quoted the sources as saying that Israeli estimates indicate that Hezbollah "doubled the amount of air defense systems in its possession during the last five years and that these defense systems are based mainly on modern Iranian systems."

It pointed out that the improvement of these capabilities by Hezbollah is ongoing and this is expressed, in the availability of these systems for rapid use and in accordance with the decision of the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.

The Israeli security service believes that "the attack by an Israeli drone, in August 2019, of a facility in a building in the heart of the southern suburbs of Beirut, the stronghold of Hezbollah, which has been described as a facility to improve the accuracy of missiles, initiated the turning point in Hezbollah's strategy, and the threat by Nasrallah at the time to "start shooting down Israeli drones."

According to the newspaper, "Hezbollah implemented this threat two months later when it fired an SA8 missile at an Israeli Hermes 450 drone, which was on an intelligence-gathering mission, but the missile missed the target."

The newspaper pointed out that the Israeli army "monitored the vehicle from which the missile was launched, and requested to target it, but the Israeli political level, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu did not approve of this, in anticipation of an escalation."

The newspaper added that the Israeli army "views this event as extremely important for the future and that it motivated Nasrallah to show other field capabilities. This was followed by three attempts by Hezbollah to shoot down Israeli drones."

Afterward, the Israeli army discussed "the possibility of targeting Hezbollah's air defense systems, then removed this issue from its agenda, while Hezbollah enhanced its arming with air defense systems," said the newspaper.

Moreover, Hezbollah placed tents two months ago on the Israeli side of the border in Shebaa Farms. Political sources revealed on Friday that the Israeli army said it intended to handle the matter “through diplomatic channels'' and have the tents removed by the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

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Blinken Demands Overhaul of Israeli Conduct in West Bank after Killing of US Protester

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (not pictured) as part of a strategic dialogue at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London, Britain, 10 September 2024. (EPA)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (not pictured) as part of a strategic dialogue at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London, Britain, 10 September 2024. (EPA)
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Blinken Demands Overhaul of Israeli Conduct in West Bank after Killing of US Protester

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (not pictured) as part of a strategic dialogue at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London, Britain, 10 September 2024. (EPA)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (not pictured) as part of a strategic dialogue at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London, Britain, 10 September 2024. (EPA)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday demanded an overhaul of Israeli military conduct in the occupied West Bank as he decried the fatal shooting of an American protester against settlement expansion, which Israel said was accidental.

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, who is also a Turkish national, was shot dead last Friday at a protest march in Beita, a village near Nablus where Palestinians have been repeatedly attacked by far-right Jewish settlers.

Israel's military said on Tuesday that its initial inquiry found it was highly likely its troops had fired the shot that killed her but that her death was unintentional, and it voiced deep regret.

In his strongest comments to date criticizing the security forces of Washington's closest Middle East ally, Blinken described Eygi's killing as "unprovoked and unjustified". He said Washington would insist to the Israeli government that it makes changes to how its forces operate in the West Bank.

"No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views," he told reporters in London.

"In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement.

"Now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It's not acceptable," he said.

An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment on Blinken's remarks.

The Israeli military said an investigation by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division was under way and its findings would be submitted for higher-level review once completed.

"We're going to be watching that very, very closely," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, saying a criminal probe was an unusual step by Israel's military.

"We're going to want to see where it goes now in terms of the criminal investigation and what they find, and if and how anyone is held accountable," Kirby added.

Eygi's family called the preliminary inquiry "wholly inadequate" and urged US President Joe Biden to demand an independent investigation.

PRELIMINARY INQUIRY

In a statement, the Israeli military said its commanders had conducted an initial investigation into the incident and found that the gunfire was not aimed at her but another individual it called "the key instigator of the riot."

"The incident took place during a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks towards security forces at the Beita Junction," it said.

Israel has sent a request to Palestinian authorities to carry out an autopsy, it said.

"We are deeply offended by the suggestion that her killing by a trained sniper was in any way unintentional," Eygi's family said in a statement.

A surge in violent settler assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank has stirred anger among Western allies of Israel, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions on some Israelis involved in the hardline settler movement. Tensions have been heightened amid Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

Palestinians have held weekly protests in Beita since 2020 over the expansion of nearby Evyatar, a settler outpost. Ultra-nationalist members of Israel's ruling coalition have acted to legalize previously unauthorized outposts like Evyatar, a move Washington says threatens the stability of the West Bank and undercuts efforts toward a two-state solution to the conflict.

Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, an area Palestinians want as the core of a future independent state.

Israel has built a thickening array of settlements there that most countries deem illegal. Israel disputes that assertion, citing historical and biblical ties to the territory.