Retired IDF general warns not to 'underestimate the Iranian threat' amid war with Hamas, Hezbollah
Retired IDF Maj.-Gen Gadi Shamni recently urged Israel to take the Iranian threat seriously amid the ongoing war with the Hamas terrorist organization in the south and Hezbollah forces in the north.
"I think it is impossible to underestimate the Iranian threat or take it lightly," Shamni said during an interview with Israeli 103FM radio. However, he emphasized that Israel needs to simultaneously address the significant threat Hezbollah and Hamas pose to Israeli citizens.
"The IDF and the State of Israel should take things seriously, but it is impossible to paralyze our ability to take action because of this. The state needs to do what is required in the North and the Gaza Strip and formulate some kind of clear policy,” the retired general said.
Shamni’s remarks were made in response to Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani threatening a “obliterating war” against Israel if Israel Defense Forces expanded its military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Albeit Iran deems as psychological warfare the Zionist regime’s propaganda about intending to attack Lebanon, should it embark on full-scale military aggression, an obliterating war will ensue,” Iran’s UN Mission wrote on 𝕏 in late June. "All options, incl. the full involvement of all Resistance Fronts, are on the table,” it added, referring to the regime's network of proxies in Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
The Iranian ayatollah regime has been ideologically committed to the destruction of the Jewish state since its inception in 1979. The Tehran regime has mainly waged its war against Israel via terror proxies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza.
Since Hezbollah is Iran’s most powerful and important terror proxy, the regime is allegedly concerned about the Lebanese terror group’s future viability in case of a potential total war with Israel. While supporting Hezbollah’s ongoing attacks on northern Israel since Oct. 8, Iran has sought to deter Israel from launching a full-scale military offensive.
Shamni assessed that America's strong support for Israel was crucial in the multi-front war against the regime.
"What is absolutely clear to me is that without the United States behind us, it will be very difficult. The Americans understand this too. They threaten us in this way. They understand that the gaps between Israel and the United States have been growing in recent years, with an emphasis on what has been happening since the beginning of the war,” Shamni said.
He noted that the unprecedented Oct. 7 invasion and attack by Hamas terrorists has forced the Jewish state to embrace a different future security paradigm.
"In the North, we will have to remove the threat, drive Hezbollah north, and allow the safe return of the residents. It is possible. Of course, after that, the IDF will have to be prepared in a completely different way than we were prepared until October 7 on all the borders of the country. The civil preparation will also have to be completely different,” Shamni said regarding the Hezbollah threat to Israel.
Hezbollah is widely considered one of the world’s most powerful non-state actors, believed to possess a vast arsenal of over 150,000 rockets and missiles that is able to reach any point inside Israel. The terrorist organization also has Iranian-provided drones and a well-trained elite force, Radwan, that constitute a serious threat to northern Israeli communities, in particular.
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The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
