Burning oil tanker in Red Sea unsafe to tow, EU naval mission says

Special Explosions take place on the deck of the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion in the Red Sea, Aug. 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Special Burning oil tanker in Red Sea unsafe to tow, EU naval mission says
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Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion burns in the Red Sea following a series of attacks by the Houthis on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (AP Photo)
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Updated 03 September 2024
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Burning oil tanker in Red Sea unsafe to tow, EU naval mission says

Burning oil tanker in Red Sea unsafe to tow, EU naval mission says
  • EUNAVFOR Aspides said that tugboats from private companies that arrived at the Sounion oil tanker in the Red Sea discovered that to move the ship from its current position is not viable
  • Greek-flagged Sounion, carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil, has been abandoned and engulfed in flames in the Red Sea since late last month

AL-MUKALLA: A burning oil tanker in the Red Sea loaded with almost a million barrels of oil cannot be moved to another position to be saved, the EU naval operation in the Red Sea said on Tuesday, dashing hopes of avoiding a tragedy in the important maritime channel.

The EU mission, known as EUNAVFOR Aspides, said that tugboats from private companies that arrived at the Sounion oil tanker in the Red Sea discovered that to move the ship from its current position is not viable and that rescuers are evaluating other on-site solutions. 

“The private companies responsible for the salvage operation have concluded that the conditions were not met to conduct the towing operation and that it was not safe to proceed. Alternative solutions are now being explored by the private companies,” the EU mission said on X.

The Greek-flagged Sounion, carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil, has been abandoned and engulfed in flames in the Red Sea since late last month, when the Houthis attacked it first with light arms fire, projectiles, and a drone boat, then boarded it and planted explosives that sparked fires on various parts of the ship.

The Houthi assault on the oil tanker has provoked worldwide condemnation, as well as warnings of a significant danger to Red Sea trade and marine life.

Wim Zwijnenburg of the Humanitarian Disarmament Project at the Dutch peace organization PAX told Arab News on Tuesday that the EU mission’s remark suggests that moving the tanker to another location is impossible and that rescuers may consider salvaging it at its current location, which will probably mean extinguishing the fires first.

“It means they can’t start with the rescue operations. The ship is probably not stable enough to tow it away and be salvaged at another location. So they are probably looking for on-site solutions, putting out the fire perhaps?” he said.

Earlier, the EU mission said on X that its warships had given protection to the tugboats that arrived at the scene of the burning ship, warning of an ecological disaster in the Red Sea if the ship was not salvaged.

“Since September 1st, 2024, EUNAVFOR ASPIDES assets have been engaged in protecting the tugs involved in the MV SOUNION salvage operation, aiming to facilitate the prevention of an unprecedented environmental disaster in the region.”

The post came as a Yemeni government official in the southern city of Aden, Yemen’s temporary capital, told Arab News on Tuesday that two tugboats from a port in Djibouti arrived at the Sounion’s location and started assessing the ship to determine how to rescue it.  

The US Central Command, which condemned the Houthis for assaulting two oil tankers in the Red Sea on Monday, also warned of an ecological catastrophe in the Red Sea from the burning ship.

“Currently, salvage efforts are underway in the southern Red Sea for the disabled MV Delta Sounion, which is still on fire and threatens the possibility of a major environmental disaster,” CENTCOM said on Tuesday morning.

CENTCOM said that its troops had destroyed two missile systems aimed at international ships in a Houthi-controlled part of Yemen.

On Monday, local media and people reported loud explosions and thick smoke billowing from the Al-Hamza military base in the Houthi-controlled Ibb governorate, reportedly attacked by the US military.  


Israel’s airstrike warnings terrify and confuse Lebanese civilians

Israel’s airstrike warnings terrify and confuse Lebanese civilians
Updated 28 sec ago
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Israel’s airstrike warnings terrify and confuse Lebanese civilians

Israel’s airstrike warnings terrify and confuse Lebanese civilians
  • The Lebanese government says at least 1.2 million people have been displaced by the war, the vast majority since Israel ramped up airstrikes across the country last month

BEIRUT: As the war between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies, Lebanese civilians are increasingly paying the price – and this dangerous reality often becomes clear in the middle of the night: That’s when the Israeli military typically warns people to evacuate buildings or neighborhoods to avoid airstrikes.
Moein Shreif was recently awakened at 3 a.m. by a neighbor calling to alert him that Israel planned to strike a nearby building in his middle-class suburb south of Beirut where Hezbollah has a strong presence.
Shreif, his wife and their three children quickly fled their multi-story apartment building and drove away. Within minutes, explosions rang out, he said later that day upon returning to see the smoldering ruins of his building and the one next door.
“I didn’t even have time to dress properly, as you can see,” said Shreif, a well-known Lebanese folk and pop singer who was still wearing his pajamas from the night before. “I didn’t take anything out of the house.”
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging strikes nearly every day since the start of the war in Gaza. Hezbollah says it will fire rockets into Israel until there’s a ceasefire in Gaza; Israel says its fighting to stop those attacks, which have forced tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes.
But it wasn’t until late last month, when Israel dramatically expanded its aerial campaign against Hezbollah, that Lebanese people began receiving regular warnings about upcoming airstrikes. Human rights groups say Israel’s warnings — which aren’t issued before many airstrikes — are inadequate and sometimes misleading.
On Sept. 23, Israel made 80,000 calls into Lebanon, according to Imad Kreidieh, head of the country’s telecommunications company – presumably recorded warnings about upcoming airstrikes.
The calls caused panic. Schools shut down. People rushed home early from work. It ended up being the deadliest day of airstrikes in Lebanon in decades, with over 500 people killed — roughly one quarter of all those killed in Lebanon the past year, according to the country’s Health Ministry. Women and children make up one quarter of all the deaths, the ministry says.
Israel has issued warnings on social media nearly every day since then.
On Oct. 1, 27 villages in southern Lebanon were told to evacuate to the north of the Awali River, dozens of kilometers (miles) away. “Save your lives,” the instructions said.
That is when Salam, a 42-year-old mother of two, fled the village of Ain Ebel. She and her family are now staying with relatives in Beirut. Salam refused to give her full name for fear of reprisals.
So far, Ain Ebel – a mostly Christian village – hasn’t been bombarded, although surrounding villages whose residents are predominantly Shiite Muslims have been. Salam’s teenage children are terrified of going home, especially since Israel launched a ground invasion.
Salam is still baffled and angry that her village was evacuated.
So far, evacuation notices in Lebanon have been far more limited than in Gaza, but the messages in both places have a common theme. In Gaza, Israel says it is targeting Hamas militants embedded among Gaza’s civilians. In Lebanon, it warns of similar behavior by Hezbollah, a Hamas ally.
Most of the Israeli military’s warnings first appear on the social media accounts of its Arabic spokesperson. They are then amplified by the Lebanese media.
The warnings instruct people to vacate homes “immediately,” and they are usually followed by a series of overnight strikes that often cause damage in areas beyond those that were warned. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah fighters, weapons or other assets belonging to the group. Warnings are rarely issued before daytime strikes.
The Lebanese government says at least 1.2 million people have been displaced by the war, the vast majority since Israel ramped up airstrikes across the country last month. Over 800 of some 1,000 shelters are over capacity.
One quarter of Lebanese territory is now under Israeli military displacement orders, according to the UN’s human rights division.
“Calling on residents of nearly 30 villages to leave ‘immediately’ is not effective and unlawfully suggests that civilians who do not leave an area will be deemed to be combatants,” said Ramzi Kaiss, a researcher for Human Rights Watch in Beirut.
Kaiss said Israel — which usually issues warnings 30 to 90 minutes ahead of airstrikes — is obligated to protect civilians who refuse to evacuate, or who are physically unable to.
Amnesty International is also critical of Israel’s practice of warning entire towns and villages to evacuate. It “raises questions around whether this is intended to create the conditions for mass displacement,” Agnes Callamard, the group’s secretary general said in a statement on Thursday.
The Israeli military didn’t respond to a request for comment. It has previously said it makes a significant effort to save civilian lives with its warnings.
For almost a year, Israel’s strikes were mostly concentrated in communities along the border, far from the capital and its populous suburbs. But now people who once felt relatively safe in the outskirts of Beirut are increasingly at risk, and their neighborhoods are receiving a small but growing share of airstrike warnings.
In Shreif’s case, he said his neighbor called about five minutes after the Israeli military issued a warning on the social media platform X.
Shreif considers himself lucky: If it wasn’t for that wake-up call, his family might not be alive. The AP could not determine whether any people were killed or injured in the strike that destroyed Shreif’s building or the one next door.
To the northeast of Beirut, in the Bekaa Valley, Israel recently issued a warning to people to stay at least 1,000 meters (yards) away from their town or village if they are in or a near a home that has weapons belonging to Hezbollah.
Some of the warnings have come in the form of animated videos. One shows an elderly woman in a kitchen, suggesting she is unaware of hidden rooms and compartments in her own house that contain weapons for Hezbollah.
“Didn’t you know?” the narrator says in Arabic, as the elderly woman discovers rockets under the couch, behind the shower curtains and elsewhere. The video warns viewers to leave their homes immediately if they – or their neighbors – discover weapons.
But in many cases there are no warnings at all.
Last month, in Ain el-Delb near the southern city of Sidon, an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building, burying about 70 people under the rubble.
Achraf Ramadan, 34, and his father were among the lucky one who rescue workers were able to pull out alive. His mother was taken to the hospital alive, but she later died from her wounds. His younger sister Julia, a public relations professional in her late 20s, was found dead. Achraf and Julia together had been leading initiatives to support displaced Lebanese families in and around Sidon.
“This is a nice and peaceful neighborhood,” Ramadan said, sounding dejected. “The international community is asleep and not taking initiative. On the contrary, I think it’s giving Israel an excuse for its barbarity on the pretext of self-defense.”


As Hezbollah and Israel battle on the border, Lebanon’s army watches from the sidelines

As Hezbollah and Israel battle on the border, Lebanon’s army watches from the sidelines
Updated 14 min 55 sec ago
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As Hezbollah and Israel battle on the border, Lebanon’s army watches from the sidelines

As Hezbollah and Israel battle on the border, Lebanon’s army watches from the sidelines
  • Analysts familiar with the army’s workings said that, should the Israeli incursion reach the current army positions, Lebanese troops would put up a fight — but a limited one

BEIRUT: Since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon, Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have clashed along the border while the Lebanese army has largely stood on the sidelines.
It’s not the first time the national army has found itself watching war at home from the discomfiting position of bystander.
Lebanon’s widely beloved army is one of the few institutions that bridge the country’s sectarian and political divides. Several army commanders have become president, and the current commander, Gen. Joseph Aoun, is widely regarded as one of the front-runners to step in when the deadlocked parliament fills a two-year vacuum and names a president.
But with an aging arsenal and no air defenses, and battered by five years of economic crisis, the national army is ill-prepared to defend Lebanon against either aerial bombardment or a ground offensive by a well-equipped modern army like Israel’s.
The army is militarily overshadowed by Hezbollah. The Lebanese army has about 80,000 troops, with around 5,000 of them deployed in the south. Hezbollah has more than 100,000 fighters, according to the militant group’s late leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Its arsenal — built with support from Iran — is also more advanced.
A cautious initial response
Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters have been clashing since Oct. 8, 2023, when the Lebanese militant group began firing rockets over the border in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza.
In recent weeks, Israel has conducted a major aerial bombardment of Lebanon and a ground invasion that it says aims to push Hezbollah back from the border and allow displaced residents of northern Israel to return.
As Israeli troops made their first forays across the border and Hezbollah responded with rocket fire, Lebanese soldiers withdrew from observation posts along the frontier and repositioned about 5 kilometers (3 miles) back.
So far, Israeli forces have not advanced that far. The only direct clashes between the two national armies were on Oct. 3, when Israeli tank fire hit a Lebanese army position in the area of Bint Jbeil, killing a soldier, and on Friday, when two soldiers were killed in an airstrike in the same area. The Lebanese army said it returned fire both times.
Lebanon’s army declined to comment on how it will react if Israeli ground forces advance farther.
Analysts familiar with the army’s workings said that, should the Israeli incursion reach the current army positions, Lebanese troops would put up a fight — but a limited one.
The army’s “natural and automatic mission is to defend Lebanon against any army that may enter Lebanese territory,” said former Lebanese Army Gen. Hassan Jouni. “Of course, if the Israeli enemy enters, it will defend, but within the available capabilities … without going to the point of recklessness or suicide.”
Israeli and Lebanese armies are ‘a total overmatch’
The current Israeli invasion of Lebanon is its fourth into the neighboring country in the past 50 years. In most of the previous invasions, the Lebanese army played a similarly peripheral role.
The one exception, said Aram Nerguizian, a senior associate with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, was in 1972, when Israel attempted to create a 20-kilometer (12-mile) buffer zone to push back Palestinian Liberation Organization fighters.
At that time, Nerguizian said, the Lebanese army successfully slowed the pace of the Israeli advance and “bought time for political leadership in Beirut to seek the intervention of the international community to pressure Israel for a ceasefire.”
But the internal situation in Lebanon — and the army’s capabilities — deteriorated with the outbreak of a 15-year civil war in 1975, during which both Israeli and Syrian forces occupied parts of the country.
Hezbollah was the only faction that was allowed to keep its weapons after the civil war, for the stated goal of resisting Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon — which ended in 2000.
By 2006, when Hezbollah and Israel fought a bruising monthlong war, the Lebanese army “had not been able to invest in any real-world post-war modernization, had no ability to deter Israeli air power” and “was left completely exposed,” Nerguizian said. “The few times that the (Lebanese army) and Israeli forces did engage militarily, there was total overmatch.”
International aid has been a mixed blessing
After the 2011 outbreak of civil war in neighboring Syria and the rise of the Islamic State militant group there, the Lebanese army saw a new influx of military aid. It successfully battled against IS on Lebanon’s border in 2017, although not alone — Hezbollah was simultaneously attacking the group on the other side of the border.
When Lebanon’s financial system and currency collapsed in 2019, the army took a hit. It had no budget to buy weapons and maintain its existing supplies, vehicles and aircraft. An average soldier’s salary is now worth around $220 per month, and many resorted to working second jobs. At one point, the United States and Qatar both gave a monthly subsidy for soldiers’ salaries.
The US had been a primary funder of the Lebanese army before the crisis. It has given some $3 billion in military aid since 2006, according to the State Department, which said in a statement that it aims “to enable the Lebanese military to be a stabilizing force against regional threats” and “strengthen Lebanon’s sovereignty, secure its borders, counter internal threats, and disrupt terrorist facilitation.”
President Joe Biden’s administration has also touted the Lebanese army as a key part of any diplomatic solution to the current war, with hopes that an increased deployment of its forces would supplant Hezbollah in the border area.
But that support has limits. Aid to the Lebanese army has sometimes been politically controversial within the US, with some legislators arguing that it could fall into the hands of Hezbollah, although there is no evidence that has happened.
In Lebanon, many believe that the US has blocked the army from obtaining more advanced weaponry that might allow it to defend against Israel — America’s strongest ally in the region and the recipient of at least $17.9 billion in US military aid in the year since the war in Gaza began.
“It is my personal opinion that the United States does not allow the (Lebanese) military to have advanced air defense equipment, and this matter is related to Israel,” said Walid Aoun, a retired Lebanese army general and military analyst.
Nerguizian said the perception is “not some conspiracy or half-truth,” noting that the US has enacted a legal requirement to support Israel’s qualitative military edge relative to all other militaries in the region.


40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn ‘attacks’

40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn ‘attacks’
Updated 53 min 20 sec ago
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40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn ‘attacks’

40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn ‘attacks’
  • At least five peacekeepers were wounded by Israeli fire in the past 48 hours as Israel takes its fight against Hezbollah into southern Lebanon
  • UNIFIL, which involves about 9,500 troops of some 50 nationalities, is tasked with monitoring a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah

UNITED NATIONS, United States: Forty nations that contribute to the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Saturday that they “strongly condemn recent attacks” on the peacekeepers.
“Such actions must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated,” said the joint statement, posted on X by the Polish UN mission and signed by nations including leading contributors Indonesia, Italy and India.
Other signatories include Ghana, Nepal, Malaysia, Spain, France and China — all countries that have contributed several hundred troops to the force.
At least five peacekeepers have been wounded in recent days as Israel takes its fight against Hezbollah into southern Lebanon.
The peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, has accused the Israeli military of “deliberately” firing on its positions.
The 40 contributing countries “reaffirm our full support for UNIFIL’s mission and activities, whose principal aim is to bring stabilization and lasting peace in South Lebanon as well as in the Middle East,” the statement read.
“We urge the parties of the conflict to respect UNIFIL’s presence, which entails the obligation to guarantee the safety and security of its personnel at all times,” it added.
UNIFIL, which involves about 9,500 troops of some 50 nationalities, is tasked with monitoring a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah.
Its role was bolstered by UN Security Council Resolution 1701 of that year, which stipulated that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should be deployed in south Lebanon.
At a summit on Friday, French, Italian and Spanish leaders said the “attacks” on UNIFIL peacekeepers violated Resolution 1701 and must end.
UNIFIL said that, in recent days, its forces have “repeatedly” come under fire in the Lebanese town of Naqura where it is headquartered, as well as in other positions.
The mission said that Israeli tank fire on Thursday caused two Indonesian peacekeepers to fall off a watch tower in Naqura.
The following day it said explosions close to an observation tower in Naqura wounded two Sri Lankan Blue Helmets, while Israel said it had responded to an “immediate threat” near a UN peacekeeping position.
On Saturday UNIFIL said a peacekeeper in Naqura “was hit by gunfire” on Friday night.
UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told AFP the peacekeeping mission’s work had become “very difficult because there is a lot of damage, even inside the bases.”
 

 


Lebanon says 15 killed in 3 Israeli strikes outside Hezbollah strongholds

Lebanon says 15 killed in 3 Israeli strikes outside Hezbollah strongholds
Updated 12 October 2024
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Lebanon says 15 killed in 3 Israeli strikes outside Hezbollah strongholds

Lebanon says 15 killed in 3 Israeli strikes outside Hezbollah strongholds
  • The ministry reported “nine dead and 15 wounded” in an “Israeli enemy strike“

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said Saturday that at least 15 people had been killed in Israeli strikes on three areas considered outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds, updating earlier tolls.
The ministry reported “nine dead and 15 wounded” in an “Israeli enemy strike” on the village of Maaysra north of Beirut, raising an earlier toll of five dead.
It also reported two dead, four wounded and unidentified “body parts” in a Israeli strike on Deir Billa, near the northern town of Batroun, and said four people were killed and 18 wounded in a strike on Barja, raising an earlier toll of 14 wounded for the raid in the Shouf district south of the capital.


’Very challenging’: Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain

’Very challenging’: Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain
Updated 12 October 2024
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’Very challenging’: Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain

’Very challenging’: Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain
  • After “Operation Litani” against the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1978, Israeli troops invaded four years later for the wider-ranging “Peace for Galilee” operation, again targeting the PLO
  • Mounir Shehadeh, a former Lebanese government coordinator for the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL, told AFP that Hezbollah had a substantial stockpile of anti-tank missiles and other weapons

PARIS: As Israel undertakes its fourth ground offensive in southern Lebanon in 50 years, its troops again face rocky terrain mined with explosives and full of hiding places that previous generations of soldiers have battled over.
After pounding Gaza for nearly a year, Israeli forces began “targeted” ground raids on September 30 intended to push back Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon who have been bombarding northern Israel over the last year.
The decision has sparked a debate about the wisdom of opening up a second front and presents Israeli soldiers with a different challenge to the flat, densely packed urban environment of Gaza.
Jonathan Conricus, who fought in Lebanon and served as an Israeli liaison officer to United Nations peacekeepers from 2009-2013, said the terrain was “vastly different” and forms a combat zone that is “many times larger.”
“The topography is very challenging for an invading force and convenient for an enemy like Hezbollah,” Conricus, a former military spokesman who now works for the conservative Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, told AFP.
“The terrain also allows multiple ways for a defending enemy to use anti-tank missiles and IEDs against a conventional army,” he added, referring to improvised explosive devices.
Miri Eisen, who served as an Israeli intelligence officer in Lebanon, remembers the steep hills and ravines she encountered during Israel’s 1978 invasion.
“As soon as you cross the border, you go down drastically and up drastically,” Eisen, who now works at the Institute for Counter Terrorism at Israel’s Reichman University, told AFP.
“There are boulders that can be used as hiding places and there are areas that you can’t just drive through with vehicles. It is also hard to walk through,” she recalled.
Analysts believe Hezbollah constructed an intricate network of underground tunnels cut deep into the hills, with openings hidden inside homes among other locations.

Israel’s multiple wars in Lebanon have always had the same objective — dealing with a security threat on its northern border — but have produced highly contested results.
After “Operation Litani” against the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1978, Israeli troops invaded four years later for the wider-ranging “Peace for Galilee” operation, again targeting the PLO.
That invasion saw Israel briefly lay siege to Beirut, and left about 20,000 people killed by the end of the same year. Israeli troops ended up occupying the south of the country for 18 years.
During this period, the Shiite Islam Hezbollah group emerged under the supervision of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
After Israel’s withdrawal, a series of violent incidents involving Hezbollah followed, culminating in another ground offensive and war in 2006.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated in an air strike on September 27, proclaimed a “divine victory” in that 2006 war which was widely seen as a failure for Israel at a cost of 160 lives, mostly soldiers.
The 33-day war also killed 1,200 mostly civilian Lebanese people.
In his final speech days before his killing, Nasrallah warned his arch-enemy about the dangers of trying to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
“This security belt will turn into a quagmire, a trap, an ambush, an abyss, and hell for your army if you want to come to our land,” he warned on September 19.
So far, after nearly two weeks of combat, 14 Israeli soldiers have died, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Experts say both the Israeli army and Hezbollah have transformed since their last open confrontation.
Israeli military planners pored over the setbacks of 2006 to learn lessons.
“The IDF has been following the threat from Hezbollah for many years and it has had the additional past 11 months to prepare while they were fighting Hamas (in Gaza) before turning to Hezbollah,” said Eisen.
Israel escalated an air campaign against Hezbollah on September 23, targeting senior figures and weapons dumps as it sought to degrade the organization before the ground offensive.
The escalation came just after booby trapped communication devices used by Hezbollah detonated, wounding thousands.
The bombardment has killed more than 1,200 people, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, while the International Organization for Migration says it has verified around 690,000 internally displaced people.
Since 2006, Hezbollah is known to have benefitted from years of weapons transfers from Iran, including ballistic missiles, while many of its troops are battle-hardened after fighting in Syria to support the regime of President Bashar Assad.
Rabha Allam from the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, an Egyptian research institute, stressed that Hezbollah operated in “a decentralized way” like a guerilla army, enabling it to fight back in the south.
“The assumption that striking the (group’s) leadership and communications would paralyze the movement was wrong,” she told AFP.
Mounir Shehadeh, a former Lebanese government coordinator for the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL, told AFP that Hezbollah had a substantial stockpile of anti-tank missiles and other weapons.
“This is what it is heavily depending on to stem the advance of (Israeli) tanks. It is not using them yet. It is relying on ambushes, traps and explosives against advancing forces,” he said.