The Zionist regime has always been after destroying Hezbollah. It was planning to destroy 30% of Hezbollah in a surprise attack, said General Soleimani in an interview broadcast on IRIB TV on Tuesday night.
They were then planning to use the powerful presence of the US on Iran and Afghanistan and the support from some Arab states of the region to launch a war against Hezbollah to wipe it out, General Soleimani said.
He added that in the 2006 Lebanon War, there was information that showed the Zionist regime was planning to destroy Hezbollah, but the war took place in a condition that 40% of US forces were in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The commander of Qods Force said that after Iraq invaded Kuwait and was later defeated in 1991, 60% of the US military was in the region – taking other reserves into draft.
He went on to say that the Zionist regime made use of the chance and started the war against Hezbollah and the people of Lebanon.
Referring to Hezbollah's victory in the war, he said that as they targeted the Palestinians in southern Lebanon in 1967 to make them evacuate the area, the Israelis started to target the people and Hezbollah, they bombarded them, and used their state-of-the-art and high precision weapons.
In the war, they made a camp and some ships ready in order to capture as many Lebanese as they could and place them in the camp, separate military forces from them and send the rest to other parts of the world on the ships.
It was first Ehud Olmert, the former Prime Minister of Israel, that said revealed that some Arab countries supported Israel in the war to wipe out Hezbollah.
This was while Hassan Nasrallah had promised the Lebanese to free their fellow Lebanese from the Zionist's jails.
The people of Lebanon had no support except for Hezbollah. To keep their promise, they had to use extradition of POWs, so Imad Mughniyeh commanded an operation in the Occupied Palestine, seized two soldiers that were wounded and transferred them to a safe place.
On the other hand, the enemy had a pre-planned war to surprise Hezbollah with, which led to the 2006 Lebanon War, he said.
I was summoned to Tehran after the first week of the war, but the Supreme Leader was then in Mashhad, I went there too. In a meeting, in the presence of the heads of the three branches, members of the National Security Council, and some military commanders, I gave a report about the situation in Lebanon, which has no signs of victory. The war was technological one and the enemy had chosen their targets carefully and was hitting them with precision, he said.
Then, the Supreme Leader made a speech and likened the situation to those in Prophet Mohammad's Battle of the Trench, which was great victory for Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and Muslims. He, then, recited the verses in the Holy Koran that are about the Battle of the Trench, said the commander.
The supreme leader added that contrary to the fact that Israel must have wanted to catch Hezbollah off guard, they themselves were surprised by Hezbollah's seizing two of their forces, he added.
He added that he went to Lebanon and reported the speech of the Supreme Leader to Nasrallah, which elevated his spirits.
The war was 13 years ago, and many of the facts should still be kept secret, though some parts can be detailed for the public opinion.
The commander of the Qods Force said that one night, they persuaded Hassan Nasrallah to leave a command center that was being bombarded by the Israeli drones that flew in group of three.
He added that Hezbollah forces had been drilling since 2000 when the Zionists escaped the area. In all wars, Israeli warships targeted Lebanon from the sea, but this time, because Hezbollah hit two of the warships, the Israeli navy was not seen.
The path of the war made a U-turn on day 28. Hezbollah hit an Israeli helicopter and many tanks.
According to Hamad bin Khalifa, then prime minister of Qatar, the US wouldn’t let any talks in the UN about the end of war. But suddenly the Israeli representative went to Hamad bin Khalifa's residence. They went to the UN and found John Bolton totally frustrated, General Soleimani said.
They asked for the war to stop at once or the Israeli military will fall completely. They said that Israel had ignored all its conditions and had to accept all the conditions of Hezbollah, which was a great victory for Hezbollah.
Since then Ben-Gurion's policy of pre-emptive assault turned into mere defense. Some days ago, when the secretary-general of Hezbollah said they would revenge the two martyrs, the Zionist regime escaped three to five kilometers away from their borders. Even Al Mayadeen reporter entered the Occupied Palestine and made a report from there.
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