Why is it important to target Haifa?/ Hezbollah’s entry into the offensive phase.
Since October 8, 2023, Lebanon’s Hezbollah has targeted various positions in the north of the occupied territories in support of the Palestinian resistance groups. Hizbollah’s missile attacks, which so far included the border military bases, have reached the depth of the occupied territories in Haifa, the military industrial complexes of Rafael and the Ramat David base after the dawn operation of September 22. This shows the expansion of the geographical area of ​​the battle on the border of Lebanon and the occupied territories and the high importance of the upcoming developments.
targeting Haifa; Restoring balance
Lebanon’s Hezbollah has targeted key targets deep in the occupied territories in response to the repeated attacks of the occupying Al-Quds regime. The most important of these targets is the Ramat David air base of the Zionist regime and the Haifa region. Hezbollah’s missile attacks on this air base can be considered the most important and deepest attacks that the resistance has carried out since the beginning of the October 7th war between Hamas and the Zionist regime. In a statement published by Hezbollah, it is stated that in support of the people of Gaza and its brave and noble resistance and response to the attacks of the occupying regime on Lebanon, Ramat David airbase and military airport were hit with dozens of Fadi missiles. 1″ and “Fadi 2” have been targeted.
Hezbollah’s new attacks, which have reached the depth of the port of Haifa and its surrounding towns, show that Hezbollah has entered the offensive and offensive phase from the defensive phase. More than anything, this indicates that Hezbollah has regained its balance against the actions of the Zionist regime. One day after the attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, Hezbollah launched rocket and missile attacks across the border of Lebanon towards the occupied territories. This provided the conditions for Hezbollah to become the most powerful element of the axis of resistance against the occupying regime.
However, it seems that since June 2024, the battle between Hezbollah and the occupation regime has entered a new phase. Some unofficial reports indicated that Zionist leaders were considering a massive attack against Hezbollah shortly after the October 2023 attacks by Hamas. But Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has kept this plan quiet after American officials asked him to step down. Netanyahu also announced in June that any diplomatic arrangement would include physically distancing Hezbollah from the border, and that we must implement it. Field conflicts flared up especially after the killing of 12 Christian youths in the Golan Heights on July 27. Hezbollah cited the fault of the Iron Dome system as the reason for the attack. On July 30, during the drone attack of the occupying regime in Beirut, Fouad Shekar, the senior commander of Hezbollah, was martyred.
On August 25, Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets and drones into northern Israel in a retaliatory attack. In this operation, more than 320 Katyusha rockets were launched towards 11 military bases in the occupied territories, which were mainly military and intelligence bases, and hit their targets. Following these clashes, on September 17 and 18, thousands of pagers, wireless and other electronic devices exploded across Lebanon, which reportedly killed more than 30 people and injured nearly 3,000 people. Finally, on September 20, the Zionist regime targeted the meeting of the commanders of the elite Rezvan forces in the southern suburbs of Beirut with a missile attack, in which 12 of the commanders and members of this force, including Haj Ibrahim Agil and Haj Abu Hossein Wahbi, were martyred.
In this situation, it seems that Hezbollah, in its recent operation that targeted the Ramat David base in the southeast of Haifa and the Rafael industrial and military industries in the northeast of Haifa, seeks to restore the balance on the Lebanese border and push it to its advantage. . Hezbollah’s recent missile attack has several prominent features that show more of this issue.
Fadi missiles
A requirement for military balance with an opponent such as the Zionist regime, which enjoys all kinds of support from international arms sellers, including the United States, England, France, etc., is the modernization of weapons. Since the beginning of the recent war, Lebanon’s Hezbollah has tried to use its weaponry, considering the type of attacks of the Zionist army and the need to avoid the formation of a large-scale war on the border of Lebanon. The weapons used by Hezbollah in the recent war are the 220 mm Fadi 1 missile with a range of 80 km and the 303 mm Fadi 2 missile with a range of 105 km. In Hebrew media reports, it was emphasized that the air defense systems intercepted only eight missiles. At the same time, some Zionist media announced that Hezbollah also used 330 mm Fajr missiles in these attacks.
Targeting Ramat David Air Base
The main target of Hezbollah’s missile attack was the Ramat David air base, which was targeted for the second time. This base is the only air base of the Zionist Air Force in the north of the occupied territories and the main headquarters that the occupying forces use for air operations in the north, on the borders of Lebanon and Syria. The 109th squadron of F-16 fighter jets, the 105th Scorpion squadron, and the 101st F-16 Barak squadron, which are among the most important operational forces of the occupying regime’s army, are present in this base. The base is also home to 160 Squadron, known as Shadowhunters, and 157 Squadron, which consists of drones, and 193 Squadron, known as Defenders of the West, operates a Navy AS565 Panther reconnaissance helicopter. The base also hosts four squadrons responsible for field support, maintenance, and operations management