As Israel and Jews around the world celebrate the Jewish New Year of 5785, Rosh Hashanah, it is important to remember what happened one year ago. Why? Because what happened one year ago ultimately led to the death of Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Hezbollah.
It was a little over a year ago, September 22, 2023 to be exact, that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (U.N.G.A.). During his speech, Netanyahu addressed the obstacles to achieving peace in the Middle East. At that time Netanyahu said, “Many decades of efforts to make peace with Arab Nations have failed because they were based on one false assumption – that the Palestinians must be appeased as a precondition to peace. The Palestinians have much to gain from new peace agreements. They should be part of these agreements, but they should not have a veto on peace” (Israel National News).
But there was a ray of hope, for Netanyahu shared a promising update regarding the normalization efforts between Israel and Saudi Arabia, stating, “I believe that we are at the cusp of a historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Such a peace will go a long way to ending the Arab Israeli conflict.”
Part of Netanyahu’s optimism was based on what a peace agreement could mean for Israel and the entire region because it would include “a planned corridor connecting the Arabian peninsula, Israel, and Europe, to allow for travel, shipping, and energy pipelines between all of the countries involved” (Israel National News).
The potential for peace between Israel and the Arab nations was not warmly received by all in the Middle East. Ten days later, on October 2, Hassan Nasrallah addressed the possibility of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia during a speech that marked the birthday of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed, and issued the following condemnation and threat, that all Muslims “must bear responsibility for what is happening to the Palestinian people and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Instead of heeding this call, we see moves toward normalization. Any country that might sign a normalization agreement should be condemned and held accountable for its actions” (Israel National News).
Five days later, on October 7, normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia came to a screeching halt after Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists barbarically attacked Israel, murdering 1,200 people, raping women and girls, beheading and burning alive babies, and taking approximately 250 people hostage. That day, Nasrallah’s threat became a reality.
On October 8, in a show of support for Hamas as it faced retaliation from Israel, Nasrallah ordered his Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters to fire rockets into northern Israel. At that time, Hezbollah declared that they would not stop attacking Israel until there was a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas (Independent).
Nasrallah kept his word. Hezbollah attacked Israel for the next 11 months. On September 22, 2024, Danny Dannon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations (U.N.), said “Since Oct. 8, over 8,000 rockets have been fired at our people, over 70,000 have been forced to flee their homes, becoming refugees in their own land” during a meeting at the U.N. (The Hill).
Initially, Israel’s response to Hezbollah’s attacks were more defensive in nature since the IDF needed to neutralize the threat from Hamas in Gaza. But on Thursday, September 12, the IDF shifted its focus to the north after it declared victory in the battle of Rafah having defeated Hamas’s four battalions within four months (Breitbart). Israel entered into a new phase of its war against terrorism and began to systematically attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon while eliminating members of Hezbollah’s leadership.
On Tuesday, September 17, pagers used by Hezbollah terrorists exploded throughout Lebanon and Syria, leaving 12 dead and approximately 4,000 wounded, including Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, who “lost one eye and suffered serious injury to the other when a pager he was carrying exploded” (JNS).
Then on Wednesday, September 18, “Lebanon’s health ministry said 14 people were killed and 450 wounded” when Hezbollah’s walkie-talkies exploded (Axios).
Israel still has not taken credit for either attack against Hezbollah, but The Jerusalem Post independently confirmed significant details related to the operation and has concluded that the Mossad and IDF intelligence were involved.
Axios reported, “After the explosions on Wednesday, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said in a visit to an Israeli Air Force base that ‘the center of gravity is moving from Gaza to the north through the diversion of resources and forces. We are opening a new phase in the war.’”
“Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Herzi Halevi held meetings at the northern command’s headquarters and approved the updated operational plans for Lebanon, the IDF said. ‘We are determined to create the security conditions that allow the return of our citizens to their homes with a high level of security, and we are ready to do whatever it takes to bring these things about. We have many capabilities that we have not yet activated,’ Halevi said in a statement” (Axios).
Then last Friday, September 27, at the United Nations (U.N.), Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a blistering speech, calling Hezbollah, the “quintessential terror organization in the world. . . with tentacles that span all continents” (Times of Israel). Netanyahu then declared,
In the last year, completely unprovoked, a day after the Hamas massacre on October 7th, Hezbollah began attacks against Israel, which forced more than 60,000 Israelis on our northern border to leave their homes, becoming refugees in their own land. Hezbollah turned vibrant towns in the north of Israel into ghost towns. So I want you to think about this in equivalent American terms. Just imagine if terrorists turned El Paso and San Diego into ghost towns.
Then ask yourself: How long would the American government tolerate that? A day, a week, a month? I doubt they would tolerate it even for a single day. Yet Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for nearly a year. Well, I’ve come here today to say enough is enough.
We won’t rest until our citizens can return safely to their homes. We will not accept a terror army perched on our northern border, able to perpetuate another October 7th-style massacre. . . . As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has not choice. And Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.
Just this week, the IDF destroyed large percentages of Hezbollah’s rockets, which were built with Iran’s funding for three decades. We took out senior military commanders who not only shed Israeli blood but American and French blood as well. And then we took out their replacements. And then the replacements of the replacements. And we’ll continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met (Times of Israel).
Netanyahu clearly meant what he said, for prior to his U.N. speech, Breitbart reports that Netanyahu approved the largest airstrike against Hezbollah since October 8, 2023, one that targeted Hezbollah’s headquarters and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The attack was codenamed, “New Order” (JNS).
Telegraph reported that Netanyahu left Israel for New York to “trick” Hezbollah’s leader into thinking he was safe, a senior Israeli official told The Telegraph. “Mr. Netanyahu’s address to the UN was part of a ‘diversionary plan’ intended to make Hassan Nasrallah believe Israel would not take drastic action with the prime minister out of the country. . . Nasrallah was believed to be watching Mr Netanyahu’s speech ‘and was then attacked by Israeli Air Force planes’, the official said.” “Netanyahu approved the strike before delivering his speech at the UN,” the official added. He went on to say that the Israeli assessment was that Nasrallah was in the building at the time of the strike.
On September 28, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) confirmed Nasrallah’s death (JNS). A short time later, Hezbollah confirmed that Nasrallah was killed by the Israeli strike. Reuters reported, “The group said in a statement it would continue its battle against Israel ‘in support of Gaza and Palestine, and in defence of Lebanon and its steadfast and honourable people.”
The JNS reported “The deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed in the Israel Defense Forces strike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut on Friday, according to Iranian media. Brig. Gen. Abbas Nilforoushan commanded Tehran’s Quds Force in Lebanon and oversaw the IRGC’s Operations Command.”
Last week’s strike sent a clear message to Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran, and the rest of the world. In fact, it appears that Iran is paying close attention to what Netanyahu said at the U.N. because he had a specific message for that “evil regime” as well.
For too long, the world has appeased Iran. It turned a blind eye to its internal repression. It turned a blind eye to its external aggression. Well, that appeasement must end. And that appeasement must end now.
Nations of the world should support the brave people of Iran who want to rid themselves of this evil regime. Responsible governments should not only support Israel in rolling back Iran’s aggression, but they should join Israel. They should join Israel in stopping Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
In this body and the Security Council, we’re going to have a deliberation in a few months. And I call on the Security Council to snap back UN Security Council sanctions against Iran because we must all do everything in our power to ensure that Iran never gets nuclear weapons. For decades, I’ve been warning the world against Iran’s nuclear program. Our actions delayed this program by perhaps a decade, but we haven’t stopped it. We’ve delayed it, but we haven’t stopped it. Iran now seeks to weaponize its nuclear program. For the sake of the peace and security of all your countries.
For the sake of the peace and security of the entire world, we must not let that happen. And I assure you, Israel will do everything in its power to make sure it doesn’t happen (Times of Israel).
After convening a security council meeting, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened Israel for Nasrallah’s assassination while hiding in a secured location. Khamenei declared, “(Nasrallah) was not an individual. He was a path and a school of thought and the path will be continued. . . The blood of the martyr shall not go unavenged” (Reuters).
Khamenei has been in hiding ever since, paranoid because he “no longer trusts anyone” after Nasrallah was assassinated (MSN).
On October 1, Iran fired almost 200 ballistic missiles at Israel to avenge the deaths of Nasrallah, Nilforoushan, and former Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh. Israel and the United States intercepted “a large number” of them (The Times of Israel).
Yesterday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “acknowledged that some of its airbases were hit in Iran’s massive ballistic missile attack on the country a night earlier, but stressed that no harm was caused to the functioning of the Israeli Air Force” (The Times of Israel).
On the eve of Rosh Hashanah and prior to Iran’s attack, Netanyahu told the Cabinet that Israel was witnessing “days of historic achievements. . . we are in decisive days. While we celebrate the new year, may it be a good one. . . We are in a war for our very existence. We will unite, go hand-in-hand and defeat our enemies. The people will arise like a lioness, and the Eternal One of Israel will not lie. So ends a year and its curses, and with God’s help so begins a year and its blessings” (JNS).
May it be so. And may all heed God’s promise to Abraham, allies and enemies alike,
And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.
(Genesis 12:3)
God meant what He said and what God said will be done.
Please join me in praying for the peace of Jerusalem, for Israel and her people.
by Dr. Matthew Dodd | October 3, 2024
