Yair Ansbacher, an IDF reservist and a research fellow at the Misgav Institute, tells Israel National News - Arutz Sheva that the war Israel embarked on is not against Hamas in Gaza, but against Iran and all its branches in the region.

"We are not only fighting Hamas in Gaza, but a regional war against Iran and its proxies, which have been systematically built up for 40 years on our borders. This includes Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Gaza, which surround us with militias of the type we saw on that black Shabbat and with rocket arsenals," says Ansbacher.

He has no doubt that the origin of the murderous terrorist attack by Hamas is in Iran and in his opinion the plan was much broader. "The Iranian plan is structured in a diabolical and creative way. Like a chess move, they wanted to attack both the Galilee and Gaza at the same time with the two forces that were built for this purpose - the Radwan force from the north which consists of several thousand fighters much more trained and skilled and with more advanced equipment than Gaza - the Nukhba force that we saw in the south."

"In the south, these forces were supposed to neutralize the local military resistance by surprise, pass it, create a line of defense, and use the civilian population as a shield in the most cynical sense to make counterattacks difficult. They were to take hostages and bargaining chips. The goal was to complicate the IDF counterattack. In such a situation, you create a line and within it you can open logistical routes to Gaza. From there, reinforcements will arrive and replenish forces and supplies, and in between you use all the evil that can come out of Gaza to begin the gradual purification of what bothers you," he adds.

According to him, "The military targets were the first target. What worries Iran are the Air Force and the Intelligence Corps - and they were easily accessible to those who entered. What's more, there is a population that is essentially anti-Israel in the south of the country, and if the plan is successful, it can be promoted and harnessed to gain support from them."

Ansbacher enumerates, despite the heavy price, three miracles that had they not occurred the attack would have ended in a much more difficult way.

"The first miracle is that they didn't implement the Iranian plan well enough.

They jumped in without the northern front that would have divided us. When we raced to the south on Saturday, I looked at the clock and thought that if they don't attack from the north, we win. Once we organize - they have no ability to activate their full plan. It's a miracle that they didn't come from the north."

"The second miracle was that they did not act or perform well.

The Palestinians who came were not well disciplined. They know how to carry out the original plan, but as soon as our forces appeared, it disrupted everything for them and they had no ability to improvise. They engaged in shocking and horrible looting and murder games - but they didn't fulfill the military tasks. They were in ecstasy, probably drugged with a substance that gives a lot of courage, but narrows the view of the world. It's a lack of professionalism that saved the situation and gave us more time," he adds.

"The third miracle," says Ansbacher, "is that in 75 years the state turned us all into a nation of warriors.

They did not encounter sheep waiting for the slaughter, but a collection of lions and lionesses, people who fought them in every possible way. I met Nir Yitzhak, an elderly man whose hand became white from all of the hours that he held the door of the medical center and struggled with them and it took a long time. Local emergency squads that we found lying on the grass eliminated hundreds of terrorists. Policemen with pistols fired and managed to stop vans full of terrorists. Then the IDF forces came and, with a lot of battles, they created the overall solution to the problem."

"Gaza is our smallest problem and we will solve it. I think the army is doing great and is at its best," he emphasizes. "For many years that I have been active in these fields, I have feared a surprise attack. As soon as a very difficult event happened, but militarily the plan was not fully implemented, I know we will win."

"At home, people don't get it. They see difficult images and the media, unfortunately, promote them and serve as a great propaganda tool for Iran and intensify the feelings through which terrorism works. You have to understand that from a military-strategic point of view, our situation is the strongest we've ever been. I think that when we end the war this time we won't even need a guard in the mall.

The army is strong and working, the officers are thinking well, and this is a message to our enemies: 'Your Nazi plan was good once against an old army, children, and women. We are now awake and coming for you,'" concludes Ansbacher.

Source: INN