PRESSTV — broadcast 20260914 173000 UTC 422 transcript segments Google Speech-to-Text API Automatic Transcription (Chirp) Data courtesy of The GDELT Project (https://www.gdeltproject.org/), from the Internet Archive TV News Archive. Machine transcription. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a verbatim quotation record. [00:00:00] when an army needs months of preparation and overwhelming firep to claim [00:00:04] a tactical objective, the question is no longer simply whether a hill has [00:00:07] fallen. the question is, what that tells us about the [00:00:11] resilience of those defending it? zyinus Israel may [00:00:14] of declare operation [00:00:16] of in control, netan yaho may present it as another achievement, but these declarations [00:00:19] also serve a political purpose, particularly for a government under enormous [00:00:23] domestic pressure to demonstrate military [00:00:26] of success, and there is a larger danger here: is not [00:00:30] an isolated hill, it can become part of a wider network [00:00:33] of of Israeli entity positions designed [00:00:35] of to create security belt inside Lebanon, a [00:00:40] of of [00:00:41] a of reality that could transform temporary military positions into a permanent security architecture, yet [00:00:45] history [00:00:46] of [00:00:46] of warns against confusion, because occupation with victory is a [00:00:49] confusion. in 1982, zinus Israel reached Beirout itself, Lebanon [00:00:53] nevertheless demonstrated that even the most powerful occupying army cannot [00:00:57] permanently dictate the destiny of another people. and today's [00:01:01] regional battlefield tells another story: resistance in Palestine has survived an [00:01:05] extraordinary Israeli entity genocidal campaign in Gaza. [00:01:09] Resistance in Yemen continues to exert pressure against the enemy despite [00:01:13] immense military pressure [00:01:14] of against their own people. And resistance in Lebanon presented by [00:01:18] Hisbollah's tactical [00:01:19] of contraction in [00:01:20] of Lebanon does not really automatically translate into the collapse [00:01:23] of the wider resistance paradigm. The central lesson is [00:01:26] simple: military power can sease to rain but it cannot. [00:01:30] manufacture legitimacy. Ali Tahir may be height a map, but for [00:01:34] Lebanon it has become a [00:01:35] in question of of dignity, sovereignty and the refusal to accept occupation as a [00:01:39] permanent reality. The heights can be bombed, the [00:01:42] ground can be contested, but the will [00:01:45] of the people that refuses to bow cannot be measured by the [00:01:48] of number of bombs dropped upon it. China people, it's not [00:01:51] over until we, the natives of this land say it is, [00:01:55] and we say, never will an occupier be safe in our [00:01:59] land, never. will an occupier remain in [00:02:11] more than five months, Ali Tahir has been at the center of [00:02:14] intense and costly [00:02:16] of confrontation with Zinus Israel launching 19 major attacks in an [00:02:20] effort to impose [00:02:21] of control over a strategically important height and its underground [00:02:25] network. But if overwhelming firepower and prolonged operations [00:02:29] have not produced. contested control, what does that tell us about the [00:02:32] resilience [00:02:33] of the defenders and what could come next on the military [00:02:37] map of southern Lebanon? to [00:02:47] general, now starting with uh what is happening at the moment in [00:02:51] in Ali Tahir, Zionist Israel has announced complete control [00:02:54] of the heights after five months of operations, 19 major [00:02:58] offensives, yet are indicating that Israeli occupation [00:03:02] of troops have relied heavily on bombardment, they have relied on bunker buster [00:03:06] munitions, engineering units, robotic [00:03:09] of systems, they even conducted also a [00:03:11] straightforward bombing with cluster bombs, but [00:03:15] never an actual military [00:03:17] of presence by soldiers, they didn't allow the soldiers to get there, from purely [00:03:21] in military perspective, from your experience, brigadier general, what does the [00:03:25] length, the intensity and the method of this operation tell us [00:03:29] about the tactical difficulties that zinis Israel actually faced [00:03:33] and encountered at Ali Tahir, and should the announcement of operational [00:03:37] control be understood as genuine battlefield [00:03:39] of breakthrough, or is it just a more limited tactical possibly [00:03:43] achievement by the Israeli occupation [00:03:58] announcement of control over the... Hill, particularly its [00:04:02] use [00:04:02] of the term operational control, is significant in terms of military [00:04:06] of terminology. In military doctrine, operational control generally implies that a [00:04:10] military sector or force has [00:04:12] of been placed under the authority of a particular command structure and is able to [00:04:15] operate freely within a defined geographical area. In practical [00:04:19] terms, it [00:04:20] of means being able to manage and conduct military operations within that area after [00:04:24] a a neutralizing what is perceived as the primary threat. However, the [00:04:28] Israeli occupation army did not. say that it had physically occupied the hill or [00:04:32] established full tangible control over it. there is an important distinction [00:04:36] between operational control and actual physical control on the [00:04:39] ground. but the Israeli enemy has carried out appears to have unfolded [00:04:43] of across three military levels: the first was extensive fire preparation and [00:04:47] bombardment. ali thahir was subjected to repeated attacks from drones [00:04:50] and intermittent bombardment over the proceeding six months. during the last three [00:04:54] months in particular, these attacks intensified considerably, involving [00:04:58] heavy missiles with substantial destructive capacity. The second aspect [00:05:02] involved attempts to locate and target suspected entrances to underground [00:05:05] facilities. The Israeli enemy commanders believe that they have prior knowledge [00:05:09] of the area because they were present on this hill before the year 2000. and are familiar [00:05:13] with its geographical layout, their particular focus was on openings [00:05:16] connected to the wooden areas of Alid and the route linking them to [00:05:20] the Al-Dupsha Hill. From their perspective, this route could [00:05:24] potentially serve as passage for entry and exit, the rotation of [00:05:27] personel or logistical support for the underground tunnels, assuming [00:05:31] such tunnels exist in the area. Therefore, their approach was [00:05:35] to destroy these suspected entrances. They detonated number them and [00:05:39] deployed robotic systems to enter or investigate certain opening. and establish [00:05:43] contact with whoever whatever might be present inside these underground [00:05:47] facilities, however they were repeatedly surprised to discover that [00:05:50] several the entrances were merely decoys and did not lead to actual [00:05:54] underground positions. in response, the resistance also employed drones [00:05:58] against some these operations targeting enemy activity in the [00:06:01] area. [00:06:07] i wanted to ask about this because what is perhaps most striking is simply not [00:06:11] actually attack. king Ali Tahir, but how it's defenders [00:06:15] endured, repeated and massive massive assaults [00:06:19] over such an extended period of time, we're talking about a period of time that [00:06:23] extends to seven or eight months, given the enormous disparity the [00:06:27] Israeli enemy firepower, intelligence and the technology capabilities, [00:06:31] how do you explain the ability of resistance fighters (precate [00:06:34] general) to withstand 19 [00:06:38] enormous attacks within a very short period of time, because these attacks happened [00:06:42] in the... [00:07:12] looking and commanding the surrounding terrain, including the adjacent [00:07:15] elevations. For this reason, the Israeli enemy army resorted to [00:07:19] intermittent and indirect methods of fighting. It knew that a direct battle [00:07:23] would likely turn into close quarters combat, and that under such [00:07:26] circumstances it might not be able to achieve its objectives. What [00:07:30] hazbullah or the resistance has demonstrated through its methods and combat tactics [00:07:33] inside Ali Tahir, points to the capabilities of its fighters. [00:07:37] These capabilities are not limited merely to holding their ground and enduring the [00:07:41] attack, rather. the resistance appears to have moved beyond the phase of simple [00:07:45] resilience into a phase of actively confronting and countering every tactic [00:07:49] employed by the Israeli enemy. for example, rather than launching a direct [00:07:52] assault, the Israeli enemy turned to technology and artificial [00:07:56] intelligence, using them to survey and probe suspected entrances and [00:07:59] openings across the hill an attempt to gain access to what they insist on [00:08:03] describing as tactical installation rather than a strategic [00:08:06] one. yet the resistance was able to adapt to and circumvent these measures. [00:08:10] it was able to maneuver around the... advancing forces in the wooded areas [00:08:14] surrounding, infiltrating their vicinity or operating [00:08:18] under the cover of fire and bombardment. It then deployed drones against the [00:08:21] advancing forces, targeting tanks and forward units. These units [00:08:25] included armored and robotic formations as well as manned forces [00:08:29] operating at the front the Israeli occupation army's 36th division. [00:08:33] Reports indicate that an officer, deputy battalion commander and [00:08:37] several other personnel were killed or hit during these operations. [00:08:40] It is also believed that to this... day there may still be Israeli entity [00:08:44] military personnel unaccounted for in the vicinity of Alir. [00:08:48] This in itself, is an indication of what took place there. [00:08:52] The Israeli Entity Army's announcement of operational control does not necessarily [00:08:56] mean that it achieved complete physical control over Ali. The [00:08:59] resistance's ability to hold its ground and actively engage Israeli occupation [00:09:03] forces appears to have prevented such a declaration of full and tangible [00:09:07] control and a resistance movement. Despite what it [00:09:10] endured in 2024, Resistance has regrouped, and drawing on the [00:09:14] developments that followed the war on Iran in 2026, has begune redefining [00:09:18] both its political role and its role as a resistance and military [00:09:22] force. [00:09:23] Ali Tahir has become one the starting points for that redefinition. It reflects a [00:09:27] shift in the resistances military posture. Rather than remaining fixed to a [00:09:31] single geographical line south the Liutani, it has demonstrated [00:09:34] ability to move from the first line of defense to second defensive line, [00:09:38] with Ali Tahir emerging as one of its key points of operation in defense. [00:09:43] well uh the major question is what happens next uh [00:09:47] because we've seen how zinus Israel have completely demolished [00:09:51] uh devastated gaza, how uh bombs are falling [00:09:55] again on Yemen, so if Zinos Israel attempts to consolidate these [00:09:59] positions in south Lebanon, establish some sort of a connected security [00:10:02] belt if you will with the larger occupied territories inside or [00:10:06] use them maybe as leverage in the negotiations with the officials in [00:10:10] Lebanon, what are the most likely [00:10:25] appears to be seeking, is centered a fundamental objective. It does not [00:10:28] intend merely to focus on controlling geographical territory for its own [00:10:32] sake. Rather, it seeks to use that geographical space to [00:10:36] reshape the military reality on the ground and the broader security [00:10:40] environment a way that according to its strategic calculations, could [00:10:43] ultimately influence Lebanon's political reality. Zianist Israel believes that [00:10:47] there are political forces and points of leverage within Lebanon on which it can [00:10:51] rely. Yet, from its perspective, these internal political... [00:10:55] factors have so far failed to alter Lebanon's political balance in favor the [00:10:58] American Israeli entity camp. This is why the political and negotiating [00:11:02] avenues that had hoped for, have not produced the desired outcome. [00:11:06] As result, it is now increasing pressure and an effort to create a more hostile [00:11:10] internal environment in Lebanon, one directed against the resistance and aimed at [00:11:13] pushing forward the issue of disarming it. This is the broader context in which the [00:11:17] potential scenarios ahead should be understood. In my assessment, there are [00:11:21] two possible scenarios for southern Lebanon. The first is that these... enemy [00:11:25] continues along the path that has already begun following its declaration of operational [00:11:29] control over Ali. It may attempt as much as possible to [00:11:33] establish operational control over additional areas through intelligence dominance, [00:11:37] ariel fire control, the extensive use of technology and sustained [00:11:41] pressure on the strategically commanding hilltops and geographical axes the [00:11:44] region. One possible, and in my view, plausible scenario [00:11:48] is an expansion towards the strategic highlands around and [00:11:52] rihan. This area includes a network of commanding. elevations in strategic [00:11:56] terrain, including jabal safi, jabal sujud, [00:11:59] rihan, jabal rafiah, and other [00:12:03] dominant hilltops that form part of a wider geographical spine. [00:12:07] These elevations are connected to another network of strategically commanding [00:12:10] terrain, extending through areas including south the litani [00:12:13] region, Zautar, Arnon and Ali [00:12:17] Tahir. From Zionist Israel's perspective, controlling or dominating this [00:12:21] geographical access could create a strategic corridor linking these areas. [00:12:29] This remains one possible scenario, it cannot be stated with certainty that [00:12:33] it will happen, but [00:12:35] it is a plausible and potential trajectory. The second scenario concerns what [00:12:38] zionist Israel is already doing through its bombardment the Nabati [00:12:42] region and the areas behind Alir, areas that serve [00:12:46] as part the geographical and logistical depth, supporting the [00:12:50] front. Combined with developments on the political level, Zionist [00:12:53] Israel has spoken about. its security reach deeper towards what is being [00:12:57] described as a gray zone extending between the yellow line and the blue line. the [00:13:01] apparent objective [00:13:02] in this scenario would [00:13:03] be to establish effective control through fire power over this entire area [00:13:07] to maintain constant military pressure, [00:13:10] dominate the region from distance and thereby deny the [00:13:13] resistance Israel views as its second line of defense. [00:13:17] in other words, the effort to take control of strategically commanding [00:13:21] hilltops and maintain sustained pressure on the surrounding areas is... simply [00:13:25] a military objective, it is also intended to produce political [00:13:29] consequences by reshaping the military and security reality on the [00:13:33] ground, Israel would seek to increase political pressure inside [00:13:36] Lebanon and create conditions in which the Lebanese army could be compelled by the [00:13:40] political authorities implement decision aimed at disarming the [00:14:01] time stay [00:14:01] your with and us because next we're going to talk about how Ali Tahir is [00:14:05] victory or a [00:14:06] mirage. [00:14:39] Zinius Israel is rushing to package Ali Tahir as [00:14:42] decisive victory, even [00:14:44] as questions remain over the extent of its actual control on the [00:14:47] ground, and that raises crucial question about whether this is [00:14:51] a military breakthrough or a political narrative. factured under [00:14:55] pressure, but beyond the battlefield lies equally consequential [00:14:59] struggle inside Lebanon, where the Lebanese government's official approach to [00:15:03] Israeli enemy demands is increasingly being challenged by the [00:15:07] people who argue that Lebanon cannot surrender its sovereign [00:15:10] right to confront and end occupation. More [00:15:14] details in the following [00:15:15] report. [00:15:19] Ali Tahir is being presented by Zinius Israel as a battlefield [00:15:23] achievement, but beneath the... Manfit headlines lies in much [00:15:27] more complicated military and political reality. For more than five months, [00:15:30] sinus Israel has spored enormous firepower, intelligence [00:15:34] resources, engineering capabilities and... repeated assaults [00:15:38] into securing this strategically important height. [00:15:42] 19 major attacks, sustained bombardment and bunger [00:15:45] busting munitions have still not produced the kind of swift and [00:15:49] uncontested ground operation normally associated with [00:15:52] decisive military breakthrough, and this is where the strategic [00:15:56] principle attributed to former Israeli entity chief of staff [00:16:00] yigalyadin becomes relevant. the speed with which an [00:16:03] object is captured should correspond to its importance and [00:16:07] impact on the final outcome, if a strategically important height [00:16:11] requires months of operations and extraordinary [00:16:14] firepower, the timeline itself becomes part the [00:16:18] military story. the Israeli entity announcement also comes intense [00:16:22] political pressure on menjamin Netanyahu's government, making every [00:16:26] claimed military achievement politically valuable. the battlefield is [00:16:30] therefore being fought not only with weapons, but also with [00:16:33] narratives. israeli occupation forces have reportedly relied heavily [00:16:37] on stand-up firepower and specialized engineering and [00:16:41] robotic systems to confront the underground network rather than [00:16:45] exposing large numbers of soldiers to direct [00:16:48] combat. reports have also confirmed the use of white [00:16:52] phosphorus and cluster munitions, which speaks volume [00:16:56] about the intensity the zionist offensive. yet [00:17:00] holding a position is one thing, turning it into a sustainable [00:17:04] military foothold inside southern Lebanon is another. [00:17:08] Zionist Israel would have to protect its troops, maintain supply [00:17:11] lines, with stand pressure across multiple fronts, and [00:17:15] confront the political and environmental complications of a prolonged [00:17:19] deployment, and Lebanon faces another battlefield, the [00:17:23] political one, a moment when Israeli enemy demands increasingly [00:17:27] seek to redefine the security arrangements of southern Lebanon, [00:17:31] parts of Lebanon's political establishment are effectively [00:17:34] advancing positions that serve Israeli and enemy demands [00:17:38] at the expense of Lebanese sovereignty and the interests of [00:17:42] its own people. As such, the Lebanese resistance is [00:17:46] being forced to confront pressure from outside and from [00:17:50] within simultaneously. Ali Tahir therefore is not [00:17:53] simply about who controls a hill. It is a test of whether [00:17:57] overwhelming military power can be converted into lasting [00:18:01] control. Zionist Israel may declare a victory, but [00:18:05] the battlefield and history. still has the final [00:18:25] now starting with the most important issue happening at the moment in South [00:18:28] Lebanon, Netanyahu appears to uh be very [00:18:32] anxious to declare victory at Ali Tahir, despite the fact that there are [00:18:36] reports that say that maybe they haven't reached the entirety [00:18:39] the um mountain there of what's beneath that [00:18:43] mountain there uh and they haven't secured really the entire position they're still [00:18:47] bombing it from the air from your political and strategic perspective [00:18:51] here what is driving this rush to announce this [00:19:04] there is a study ascending trend in the israeli. media in the [00:19:08] Israeli politics and the Israeli military as well to [00:19:11] build narrative of victory, decisive victory just like what you [00:19:15] said in in your introduction about Ali Tahir, what's [00:19:19] Ali Tahir? Ali Tahir is a position, a military position, my I am not a [00:19:23] military person, but I know and we've been following the [00:19:26] resistance in Lebanon has always had positions, [00:19:30] military positions, highly fortified positions wherever in Lebanon [00:19:34] in order to defend. and in order [00:19:38] to liberate and in order to deter the Israeli attacks [00:19:41] against Lebanon. Ali Tahir is one them, so you're talking about one [00:19:45] position out of many series in different regions. [00:19:49] What's so important of [00:19:53] Litani, this is one thing that we have always to keep in mind, [00:19:56] because the agreement and the understanding and the [00:20:00] agreement that has been reached to by the Lebanese government, it [00:20:04] says that Hisballah has to... hand [00:20:08] the positions south of litani and not north [00:20:12] of Litani to the Lebanese authorities, this is very well known, [00:20:15] Hisbollah has respected highly the [00:20:19] ceasefire for more than [00:20:22] one year and the three months while the Israelis continued to bombard and [00:20:26] kill and whatever. now they want to maximize the prophet about Ali Tahir, [00:20:30] they want to show it as [00:20:31] the size of victory as a humiliating defeat to the resistance, [00:20:35] while it's one military position. just like any other [00:20:38] military position and it's not the most important one and it's not [00:20:42] that legendary thing. one important issue that [00:20:46] we have to highlight as well about Ali Tahir is that... [00:20:50] Since the Israelis when they started actually all this propaganda, they [00:20:54] want to use it in the coming elections. Nathanyah want to [00:20:58] reach peak where the say [00:21:02] what he says about the defeat the resistance, about the victory [00:21:06] the Israelis would like send [00:21:09] a very a very decisive ballot to the casting [00:21:13] boxes, here I think the [00:21:16] Israelis are pinning hope. [00:21:21] that will not come true hopefully, this actually aligns with something that was [00:21:25] said by the former Israeli entity chief of [00:21:27] staffyadin who argued at the time that speed of capturing [00:21:31] any military position is related to its importance and the [00:21:35] impact the final outcome from taking that, but ali thaher [00:21:39] reportedly required months of operations, repeated [00:21:42] very massive overwhelming fire [00:21:45] power, extensive engineering capabilities, everything [00:21:49] was... put into that height, how should we read that timeline? you [00:21:58] talking about the Israelis using their high tech weaponry, [00:22:01] their high capabilities in engineering and whatever in order to reach, and [00:22:05] there had been more than 17 direct attacks against, they said that [00:22:09] they have infused the kind of gases, [00:22:13] toxic gases into the region, they were not able to capture it, [00:22:17] they were not able to capture any... captive [00:22:21] or to take any the resistance fighters, they were not [00:22:25] able any way to show any any footage [00:22:29] or any ceremonial activity that [00:22:32] shows that they have captured it, there's some dark footage inside of a dark space that [00:22:36] isn't really and they don't show it from outside to inside, he's just standing, it [00:22:40] reminds us of what happened in gaza when they stood in dark places and said that this is [00:22:44] what we have, this is what we have to spread this [00:22:47] legendary steadfastness the... [00:22:49] stance fighters there, you're talking about heroic [00:22:52] actions that we can praise always and [00:22:56] we can feel proud of, you're talking about [00:22:59] 17 attacks, as I said, you're talking about [00:23:02] more than months of direct attacks by [00:23:06] highly by the way, 17 attacks was registered before they [00:23:09] claimed, so after that they [00:23:11] attacding 19 enormous [00:23:15] attacks, exactly, and now when they say that they have captured or they have making [00:23:19] a... control of Ali Tahir, and they [00:23:22] are still bombarding Ali Tahir, this tells you that they are building their narrative [00:23:25] steadily a very assending way as to convince and to [00:23:29] prepare their public about this so-called victory victory [00:23:33] added to that they're still committing massacers over the weekend, they also killed multiple [00:23:37] Lebanese civilians outside supposedly what's called the yellow line, we don't believe [00:23:41] any lines that are drawn by the enemy, but at the same time they still [00:23:45] renegging on what they already stated they wouldn't do, [00:23:48] but exactly. [00:23:55] internal political dimension, because a moment when zisual is seeking deep [00:23:58] control the area of south Lebanon, especially if they actually take [00:24:02] Alite, [00:24:03] we know it's [00:24:03] a military position, but it will be overlooking various [00:24:07] amount of civilian residential areas [00:24:11] in south lebanon abati and elsewhere, there is [00:24:14] also we can hear loudly what the people are saying and how [00:24:18] they are unhappy with what the officials of Lebanon, they are [00:24:21] calling the government in Lebanon a puppet government controlled by the west, [00:24:25] they are saying that [00:24:26] they are effectively serving the demands the Israeli [00:24:30] entity over their own people's right for liberation, for [00:24:34] victory, for reclaiming their land. how is this position being received by [00:24:37] the Lebanese public and can any Lebanese government credibly [00:24:41] negotiate sovereignty and liberation while appearing to actually stand [00:24:45] against the right of its own people for liberation? [00:24:49] whatever the... the public say about the government, they fall short to [00:24:53] describe it, to describe this kind of surrender and [00:24:56] retreat from responsibilities and the unwillingness to do [00:25:00] anything [00:25:07] the most important issue, the resistances all over the history, [00:25:10] starting by the Roman empire, whatever, when you talk about resistance, you don't talk about [00:25:14] classical army that fight in order to [00:25:18] prevent the enemy from taking... control of a certain geography or whatever, you're [00:25:22] talking about inflicting heavy damage on the Israelies, degrading [00:25:26] their moralities, steadfastness till the last point, and then it's a [00:25:30] hit and run, this is this is the gorilla warfare the [00:25:33] resistances, they are not army or [00:25:36] classical army that, this is very important, so we have to know this is what the [00:25:40] resistance has been able to [00:25:50] talk about the framework agreement, the [00:25:54] government that the those who are in [00:25:58] authority in lebanon gave to the president and the prime minister, yeah [00:26:02] they... they they gave it to the Israelis as a price and they are still [00:26:05] astonished, they are, they they they not capture it, that's why they [00:26:09] have to make use of it as much as they can, and they [00:26:12] have to preserve it, they want to make kind of preservation, that's [00:26:16] why if you see that the Israelis are not doing [00:26:20] what they want to do fully and in one full scale, this is because they [00:26:24] want just to give up service to those who you [00:26:28] mentioned actually, so the thing is that the public in Lebanon is [00:26:32] divide. but what we can say somely [00:26:36] very sure that the majority the Lebanese, 60, 70% the [00:26:40] Lebanese are against what the government is doing when it comes to [00:26:43] South Lebanon, when it comes to negotiating with the Israelis when it comes [00:26:47] to this kind of policy that they are in acting in Lebanon, so you have [00:26:51] to promise me that soon enough we will sit again and tell me what will [00:26:55] be done about those policies from a political perspective that is allied [00:26:59] with the resistance and [00:27:13] you for watching, please do follow us on telegram and on next to get more updates about the region of west [00:27:17] Asia right here on press tv's the media [00:27:19] stream, [00:29:40] crisis, devastating wars, [00:29:43] terrorism, the Israeli [00:29:47] lobby, [00:29:50] crackdown, [00:29:54] diplomacy, [00:29:58] global economy suffering cormose closure.