Khaberni - The Israeli military correspondent at the Hebrew newspaper "Maariv," Avi Ashkenazi, commented on the ceasefire agreement between the occupation army and "Hezbollah," describing it as "the deal where you go to be a hunter and turn into prey."
Ashkenazi, talking about the situation in Lebanon and the restrictions imposed on soldiers in the field, said: "There is a ceasefire - a new concept. This means that we can fire in places where we are present, and we cannot fire in places where we are not. Only if we detect an immediate intent to harm our forces, and it originates from behind the yellow line, then it is permitted to use fire to remove the immediate threat," Ashkenazi explained: "Our hands are tied. The issue is not just for the short term, you have to look at the long term."
Ashkenazi touched on the political level stance, saying: "I heard the statement issued by Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, in which he said that Israel will not leave Ali al-Tahir Heights and will remain in Beaufort Castle and that this is not a subject matter for negotiation - this is a half-truth for the public."
He added: "In the end, if Israel is positioned in Ali al-Tahir Heights or in Beaufort, and secures a wide defensive area there, it will not provide complete defense. So what do you do given that Hezbollah, behind the ridges, let's say on the Zahrani line, will rebuild what it built? The tunnels, anti-aircraft systems, offensive systems, sniper fire, and all armament operations. In addition, it will strengthen the Radwan force and the Badr force. Having control of a land means maybe delaying the invasion, but if the other side continues to arm and build itself, what difference does it make if you are on the blue line or the yellow line if you can't act against it?"
Maariv's military correspondent continued: "Over the weekend, I entered Lebanon with a commando convoy. It was at night, in pitch darkness, where vehicles moved with dimmed lights, according to the strictest operational procedures ever. It was even forbidden to turn on phone lighting in fear that a drone might strike you. In the end, you go to be a hunter and turn into prey, and you don't want to be valuable prey inside Lebanon."
Ashkenazi continued: "You don't want your men to be constantly occupied with protecting themselves and securing their safety, rather than inflicting real damage to the other side's infrastructure. You always have to find the balance between what you want to achieve in the end, and what you are willing to pay for it."
Ashkenazi moved to the attack saying: "Here I think the issue is that we talk about slogans, and the politicians drag us into a sort of slogans and various statements they themselves know have no merit. They themselves know this only 'serves the electoral base,' nothing more. And this is what the public needs to understand. There cannot be a situation in which tanks in Lebanon are targeted with anti-tank fire and their rescue takes two days, because if you send in additional soldiers to rescue them - they will get hit. They're ducks in a shooting range, and it cannot be described any other way."
Source: "Maariv" Hebrew
