I sat in on a 25-minute Zoom briefing by IDF Lt. Colonel Jonathan Conricus yesterday afternoon. The briefing was hosted by CAMERA, which recorded the briefing but has not made it available. Conricus spoke rapidly and with great intensity. Among other things I have not read or heard elsewhere, he observed that Hamas had fired 8,000 rockets at Israel so far. Taking notes, I found it difficult to keep up with him.
At the outset he referred to the war proceeding on “three or four fronts.” The fourth was Yemen and the Houthis. To adapt a phrase from John Updike’s Bech stories: The Houthis — whodat? They are the terrorist Iranian proxy that runs the place. You know, the proxy that the Biden administration removed from the list of officially designated terrorist organizations. Israeli forces have intercepted a surface-to-surface long-range ballistic missile and two cruise missiles fired by the Houthis toward Eilat. The ballistic missile was intercepted by Israel’s Arrow system and the cruise missiles were intercepted by the IAF’s F-35I Adir combat aircraft.
The second front is on Israel’s border with Lebanon, where the Iranian proxy Hezbollah hangs out. “Hezbollah is constantly upping the ante,” Conricus reported, noting that “significant escalation occurred on that front yesterday.” He added that Israel has responded in kind and that “Hezbollah is walking a thin and dangerous line.”
He bluntly noted, “The second front could become the main front. We will respond if it is forced upon us. Half of the air force is locked and loaded and ready to go” — and they would be hitting areas away from the border in the event.
The third front is in Judea and Sumaria. He conveyed the sense that the Israelis have that one under control.
Conricus repeatedly warns Lebanon not to set Hezbollah loose. He did so again in his CAMERA briefing yesterday afternoon. However, Lebanon is subservient to Hezbollah and Iran. His appeal should be directed to Iran, but Iran doesn’t care about Lebanon per se.
The question is whether Iran wants to hold the full striking power of Hezbollah in reserve for use at a later date. Conricus’s warning makes perfect sense if understood as portending the destruction of Hezbollah if necessary in this conflict. Searching on Colonel Conricus’s Twitter feed for something that conveyed the gist of the Hezbollah component of his briefing, the video below with Martha MacCallum is the best I could find.
A message of warning to Lebanon against letting Hezbollah push us all into war, and the current situation on the ground in Gaza: progressing according to plan on and below ground. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/Nl4qhc5699
— Jonathan Conricus (@jconricus) November 3, 2023
Here is a little more to the same effect without the technical issue in the video above.
Iranian main proxy Hezbollah launched a widespread attack at northern Israel earlier today, and we have responded in kind. We are not seeking war, but are ready to defend ourselves at all costs. Lebanon stands to lose a lot if Hezbollah drags us all into war. @ljayes pic.twitter.com/cGbtMZVyPK
— Jonathan Conricus (@jconricus) November 2, 2023
UPDATE: CAMERA sent posted video of the briefing to YouTube and sent it out this afternoon. I have embedded it below.
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