Opinion: Last night, Hezbollah fired its largest barrage of the war
By Bernie,
Opinion: Last night, Hezbollah fired its largest barrage of the war, launching around 100 rockets at northern Israel. Two people were lightly injured.
In the hours before the attack, the defense establishment had intelligence assessments pointing to a significant escalation. Northern residents were not given any updated guidance or early warning before the barrage hit, despite knowledge of the size of the attack. After the initial barrage, the Home Front Command issued a notice telling all residents in the north to stay near shelters.
After the attack last night, channel 12's Almog Boker raised the following question on air: Why not issue the instruction when the intelligence is received and confirmed, but instead wait until the last minute?
We have seen the system work proactively with Iranian missile threats: Advance SMS alerts and early guidance to stay near protected spaces help people enter shelters with less urgency and more preparation time, reducing the likelihood of incident or injury in the process of entering. That capability exists. In this case, with hours of warning about a major Hezbollah barrage incoming, it was not applied.
Boker's point was not that the army failed in its duty to protect the people, but rather that the communication model has a gap. The IDF and Home Front Command have kept this country running through 12 days of war on multiple fronts, including sending tens of thousands of early alerts across the country. But when the intelligence is there and the tools exist, the people on the front line in the north deserve advance warning; not only after the rockets land.
Topics: Iran, Lebanon & Hezbollah, Missile Defense & Alerts
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