Colonel Richard Kemp, the former commander of the British military forces in Afghanistan, spoke to Israel National News - Arutz Sheva today about the massacre of 12 Druze children in a Hezbollah rocket attack on Majdal Shams on Saturday.
Col. Kemp noted that "Hezbollah has been attacking northern Israel by missiles and drones almost every day since the 7th October invasion by Hamas. They have killed and wounded several Israelis and caused considerable damage to civilian houses."
He observed that "Israel has responded with restraint to avoid triggering a second all-out war while intensive conflict continues in Gaza. Nevertheless the IDF has inflicted very significant damage on Hezbollah, killing hundreds of terrorists including some senior leaders, and destroying their munitions and other infrastructure. The massacre of children at Majdal Shams by Hezbollah was a severe escalation and Israel must respond with a very heavy strike against Hezbollah as they did against the Houthis in Yemen a few days ago following the drone strike on Tel Aviv."
When asked about the attempts to deflect blame from Hezbollah to Israel for the Majdal Shams massacre, Col. Kemp responded that "Hezbollah and its supporters initially boasted about their attack but when they understood what had actually happened they denied it. Inevitably they and their supporters have tried to shift the blame onto Israel, claiming a misfired Iron Dome. This is standard practice in anti-Israel political warfare.
"Hezbollah would have continued to celebrate the slaughter if the victims had been Jewish rather than Druze children. They don’t care who they slaughter but they don’t think it’s good PR for them to be branded as murderers of Druze, especially as there is a substantial Druze community in Lebanon who themselves will now be out for revenge against Hezbollah. Their lies are ham-fisted efforts at damage limitation," he said.
On this issue of Israel's response to the last ten months of Hezbollah attacks, he said that "Israel had to make a careful judgement in terms of reaction to Hezbollah aggression. The IDF is ready to fight an all-out war against Hezbollah in Lebanon at any time they are forced to do so. But I imagine the government and military commanders felt that optimum effect could be achieved for Israel once the intensive conflict in Gaza concluded. So it made sense to try to contain Hezbollah aggresssion so far. Israel also wanted to give international diplomacy a chance to succeed; in other words, pressuring Hezbollah to withdraw at least to the Litani River. Whether or not that eventually works we will have to see. The prospects are not promising. But Hezbollah must be pushed back, either by diplomacy or military force, in order that the thousands of Israeli evacuees from the north can be returned home. They have now been displaced from their towns and villages for nearly 10 months."
Col. Kemp criticized those in the international community who have been calling for Israel to show restraint after 12 children were killedby Hezbollah. "We have seen the predictable calls for restraint from the UN and the West. Israel does not need such advice. The government and the IDF chiefs will make a judgement on the scope, scale and power of their response. Only they can do that, not faceless bureaucrats and timid politicians sitting in New York, Washington, London and Paris. The message from the West should have been one of horror at Hizballah’s atrocity and total support for Israel to do whatever they need to deter and disrupt the potential for a repeat."
Despite the severity of the attack on Saturday and the high death toll, Col. Kemp does not believe a full-scale war with Hezbollah is inevitable. "A full-scale war might break out. It depends on the power and location of Israel’s response and any further retaliation by Hezbollah. It looks at the moment like neither side wants all-out war at the moment but military calculations are never an exact science and all war is accompanied by unpredictability, unintended events and unexpected actions by either side."
"Israel certainly has the power to strike Hezbollah very hard through intensive air and ground attack. But Hizballah also has a powerful terrorist army with the capability of inflicting immense violence against Israel including in such cities as Haifa and Tel Aviv," Col. Kemp concluded.