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Flames light up the night sky as a Hizbullah rocket hit an Israeli warship off the coast of Beirut.
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CAIRO — Despite Israel's military juggernaut of nuclear arsenal, fighter planes and unmanned aerial vehicles and drones, pundits believe that the Lebanese resistance group Hizbullah proved that it is not easy meat to the Israeli army in the current fighting.
The resistance group has stepped up rocket attacks against Israeli towns and military targets in response to Israel's brutal offensive against the Lebanese civilians.
On Saturday, July 15, Hizbullah rocketed the northern Israeli town of Tiberias for the first time since the fighting broke out three days ago.
It followed an unprecedented strike by the resistance group on an Israeli warship, SAAR 5 missile corvette, one of the most modern of the Israeli fleet, a day earlier.
"Hizbullah strike on the Israeli warship dealt a major blow to the Israeli naval fleet," military and strategic expert Mohamed Ali Bilal told IslamOnline.net Saturday.
The targeted warship, which was enforcing a blockade off the coast of Beirut, was severely damaged in the attack.
One Israeli sailor was killed and three others were missing in the attack.
An Israeli commentator also blasted the Israeli army over the strong showdown by the Lebanese group.
"Our illustrious army, one of the most advanced in the world, with its nuclear option, its fighter planes that can fly to Tehran and back, its unmanned aerial vehicles and drones and guided missiles, has been caught twice with its pants down, in scenarios that had been foreseen," wrote commentator Yoel Marcus in the daily Haaretz.
"Before we had even digested the first bungle (the Palestinian front), Hizbullah, employing a brilliant but known diversionary tactic, killed eight Israeli soldiers and kidnapped two others," Marcus said.
Hizbullah killed eight Israeli soldiers on Wednesday, July 12, and took two Israeli soldiers prisoner in a bid to press Israel for prisoners swap.
Sophisticated
Bilal expected the Lebanese resistance group to further step up rocket attacks against Israeli targets to show its sophisticated military capabilities.
"This includes rocketing strategic Haifa in the north and carrying out attacks at the heart of Israel," he added.
He also cited the attack on the Israeli warship as an example on Hizbullah's sophisticated military capabilities.
Bilal upheld the possibility that the Israeli warship was hit by a drone possessed by the Lebanese group.
"The vessel was more likely attacked by an explosives-laden drone and not by an anti-ship rocket as earlier reports said," Bilal said.
"This is because the drone has the ability to target with high accuracy contrary to small-range rockets," he added.
After it was hit, the stricken Israeli ship was pulled to the port of Haifa in northern Israel by another boat as it caught fire after the attack.
Panic
Bilal, however, played down reports exaggerating Hizbullah's military capabilities.
"These reports were only meant to exaggerate the group's capabilities in a bid to justify the Israeli aggressions on Lebanon."
An Israeli official said on Saturday, July 15, that Hizbullah has around 150 long-range rockets capable of reaching targets between 45 and 200 kilometers (25 to 120 miles) away.
The Israeli intelligence has also said that the Lebanese group has 13,000 rockets, most with a 25-km range, about 500 with a range of 45-to-75 km.
But the military expert rebuffs these claims.
"Hizbullah is a resistance group at the end of the day which can not possess these high numbers of rockets."
"In addition, the 150km-range rockets need launching pads and sophisticated tools that Hizbullah lacks," he added.
Bilal said Hizbullah's strong showdown against the Israel only meant to trigger panic among the Israelis to push their government to halt its offensive and trade prisoners.
"The Israelis are panicked as the locations the katyusha rockets launched by Hizbullah fell randomly and are not guided," he said.
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