IDF says Hamas use children in war with Israel; tensions rise on Lebanese border

[LAUREN TAYLOR]

IMAGES SHOCKING TO THE EYE. KIDS MANNING ROCKET LAUNCHERS, CHILDREN HOLDING MILITARY WEAPONS AND CLAIMS OF CHILDREN ON FRONTLINES AS HAMAS RUSHES THEM INTO COMBAT.

ALL REVELATIONS BROUGHT TO THE FOREFRONT IN REPORTS FROM THE IDF. AS ISRAEL’S WAR AGAINST HAMAS RAGES ON, A STARTLING TWIST IS EMERGING.

ISRAELI MILITARY OFFICIALS SAY 170 KIDS ARE FIGHTING ALONGSIDE HAMAS, SOME BEING FORCED ONTO BATTLEFIELDS TO “ASSESS DAMAGES” AFTERWARDS.

CHILDREN DELIVER MESSAGES AND AMMUNITION WHILE TERRORISTS HIDE IN SHELTERS, ACCORDING TO THE IDF.

ISRAEL SAYS CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT IN “SCHOOLS, YOUTH MOVEMENTS, AND SUMMER CAMPS,” THAT “KILLING JEWS AND ISRAELIS IS JUSTIFIED.”

THE IDF WROTE IN A POST ON X, “TERRORISM IS NOT INNATE, IT IS LEARNED.”

MILITARY OFFICIALS TOLD FOX NEWS HAMAS RUNS SUMMER CAMPS WHERE CHILDREN ARE TRAINED TO FIRE WEAPONS, FIGHT AGAINST TANKS AND KIDNAP SOLDIERS.

THE TERRORIST GROUP REPORTEDLY HAS THEM PREPARED FOR TUNNEL COMBAT, AS WELL. KIDS HIDE EXPLOSIVES AND DELIVER THEM TO HAMAS OPERATIVES WHO AMBUSH ISRAELI SOLDIERS.

THESE IMAGES PUT OUT BY THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT COME AT A PIVOTAL TIME IN THE WAR. HAMAS CLAIMS ISRAELI FORCES ASSASSINATED SENIOR OFFICIAL AND FOUNDING MEMBER SALEH AL-Arouri IN BEIRUT.

ISRAEL ISN’T COMMENTING ON REPORTS IT CARRIED OUT THE KILLING. BUT ONE OFFICIAL’S LATEST REMARKS ARE THE STRONGEST INDICATION THEY MAY BEHIND IT.

A DAY AFTER THE STRIKE, ISRAEL’S MOSSAD INTELLIGENCE SERVICE VOWED TO HUNT DOWN EVERY HAMAS LEADER INVOLVED IN THE OCT. 7 MASSACRE.

IF ISRAEL IS BEHIND THE ASSASINATION, THE STRIKE, WHICH OCCURED IN HEZBOLLAH’S SOUTHERN BEIRUT STRONGHOLD, COULD LEAD TO AN ALL-OUT-WAR ON LEBANON’S BORDER.

HEZBOLLAH LEADER HASSAN NASRALLAH PROMISED REVENGE. SAYING, AL-Arouri’S KILLING WILL NOT GO “WITHOUT RESPONSE AND WITHOUT PUNISHMENT.”

HE ALSO SAID HEZBOLLAH HAS BEEN CAREFUL IN ITS STRATEGY IN CONFLICT, BALANCING “THE NEED TO SUPPORT GAZA AND TAKE INTO ACCOUNT LEBANESE NATIONAL INTERESTS.” BUT IF THE ISRAELIS LAUNCH A WAR IN LEBANON, THE GROUP IS READY FOR A “FIGHT WITHOUT LIMITS.”

THE ESCALATION MAY ALREADY BE HERE THE ISRAELI MILITARY RELEASED FOOTAGE THURSDAY SHOWING MILITARY STRIKES ON HEZBOLLAH. THE IDF SAID A NUMBER OF LAUNCHES FROM LEBANON TOWARD ISRAEL WERE IDENTIFIED.

IN RESPONSE, ISRAEL TOOK OUT A HEZBOLLAH OBSERVATION POST AND AN “ANTI-TANK MISSILE TERRORIST CELL”IN SOUTHERN LEBANON. HEZBOLLAH ANNOUNCED FIGHTERS ATTACKED 11 ISRAELI POSTS ALONG THE BORDER.

THE RISING TENSION COMES AS ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES SHIFT THEIR STRATEGY IN GAZA WITH A REDUCTION IN TROOPS. FIVE BRIGADES, CONSISTING OF SEVERAL THOUSAND TROOPS, ARE WITHDRAWING FROM THE STRIP IN THE COMING WEEKS.

A SENIOR ADVISER TO ISRAEL’S PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE SAID THE REDUCTIONS ARE IMPORTANT TO ROTATE TROOPS IN WHAT IS EXPECTED TO BE A LONG WAR.

THE CHANGE IN APPROACH IS AFTER THE U-S OFFICIALS TRAVELED TO ISRAEL LAST MONTH TO PUSH ISRAEL TO SCALE DOWN THE FIGHTING AFTER MORE THAN 20,000 GAZANS DIED, ACCORDING TOTHE HAMAS-RUN GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY.

ISRAELI OFFICIALS SAY THE WAR WILL LIKELY LAST THROUGHOUT 2024, BUT IN LOWER-INTENSITY.

AN IDF SPOKESPERSON SAID THEY ARE PREPARED TO COMPLETELY DEFEAT HAMAS.