Published October 25, 2023
- Hezbollah is well equipped with thousands of rockets, considerable air defence and a fleet of tanks and APCs
- Hamas, meanwhile, has a huge stockpile of rockets and small arms but no heavy armour or real air threat
Israel’s armed forces have massed tens of thousands of soldiers, tanks, heavy armour and artillery along the Gaza border ahead of a much-anticipated ground assault that aims to crush Hamas in retaliation for the group’s ruthless October 7 attacks.
On the face of it, the conflict looks to be a considerable mismatch.
Despite its bloodthirsty slaughter of thousands of Israeli civilians and its considerable stockpiles of rockets, Hamas is ultimately a political group with a heavily armed militia.
Israel meanwhile boasts one of the most advanced militaries in the world, with state of the art equipment and technology.
The IDF currently has 169,500 active military personnel and 465,000 reservists – a large portion of whom have now been called up by the Israeli government. This equates to the world’s third largest active military per-capita, and the world’s sixth largest reserve military by the same metric.
By contrast, Hamas is thought to have as many as 40,000 fighters, all of whom are crammed into Gaza, a small 140-square-mile strip of land home to more than 2.3 million people – with limited training and resources.
But military experts are reluctant to suggest an armed Israeli incursion into Gaza will be a walk in the park.
Defenders are typically thought to have a 3-1 advantage over attackers, and Israel’s troops would face gruelling urban and guerrilla warfare, with Hamas springing traps against the IDF at every chance they get.
Some analysts have drawn comparisons to the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017), in which the western-backed Iraqi government eventually prevailed in liberating the city from its ISIS conquerors – but only at a huge cost of military and civilian life.
With this in mind, MailOnline breaks down the military capabilities of both sides ahead of Israel’s ground assault.
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SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12661747/Hezbollah-Israels-monster-north-Iran-backed-terror-group-join-war-region-ten-times-stronger-Hamas-200-000-missiles-rockets-mortars.html
RELATED: Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad chiefs discuss route to ‘victory’ on Israel
Hezbollah has had near-daily exchanges of fire with Israeli forces along the border since the Gaza war erupted.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah meets Islamic Jihad Secretary General Ziad al-Nakhala and deputy leader of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri [Hezbollah Media Office/Handout via Reuters]
Published October 25, 2023
The head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group has met top Palestinian armed group leaders from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, discussing what their alliance must do to achieve an “all-out victory” over Israel, according to a statement by Hezbollah.
The statement said Wednesday’s meeting involved Hezbollah’s Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri and Islamic Jihad chief Ziad al-Nakhala, without mentioning the location.
“The leaders tackled latest developments since the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the events that followed on all fronts, including the confrontations across the border between Lebanon and the occupied Palestine,” Lebanese state media Al-Manar quoted the statement as saying, referring to the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas fighters that killed at least 1,400 people in Israel and prompted a retaliation that in turn killed more than 5,700 people in Gaza.
“Sayyed Nasrallah assessed with Nakhale and al-Arouri the international and regional stances as well as steps to be taken by the Axis of Resistance in this critical phase in order to achieve an all-out victory and to stop the brutal attack on the oppressed people of Gaza and the West Bank,” the statement added.
Since the October 7 attack, Hezbollah has had near-daily exchanges of fire with Israeli forces along the Israeli-Lebanese border.
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SOURCE: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/25/hezbollah-hamas-islamic-jihad-chiefs-discuss-route-to-victory-on-israel
RELATED: Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief meets Hamas, Islamic Jihad officials
Beirut (AFP) – Senior officials of Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have held talks with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah about achieving “real victory” in their war with Israel, the Lebanese group said Wednesday.
The leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah (R), meets Hamas number two Saleh al-Aruri (L) and Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhaleh (2nd-L) at an undisclosed location in Lebanon © – / Hezbollah’s Media Office/AFP
Published October 25, 2023
The Hezbollah statement did not specify when or where Nasrallah met with Hamas number two Saleh al-Aruri and Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhaleh beyong saying that it was at a undisclosed location in Lebanon.
News of the meeting comes as Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions exchange daily fire with the Israeli army across the Lebanon-Israel border, raising fears of a new front in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
The three groups are part of the “axis of resistance” — Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian and other Iran-backed armed groups opposed to Israel.
They discussed what “the axis of resistance must do at this critical stage to achieve real victory… in Gaza and Palestine and stop” Israel’s “brutal aggression”, the statement said.
They also discussed “recent events in the Gaza Strip since the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” — the unprecedented October 7 Hamas attack that killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, in Israel.
The health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza says 5,791 people have been killed, again mostly civilians, as Israel has bombarded the territory.
Nasrallah and the Palestinian militant leaders “agreed to keep coordinating and daily following up on developments,” the statement added.
Hezbollah and Hamas have long been part of a “joint operations room” with the Quds Force — the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards — a source close to Hezbollah previously told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The meeting also touched upon the cross-border fire on the Lebanon-Israel border, the statement said.
