Hezbollah video shows preparations for 2006 kidnapping of two IDF soldiers

Video shows Hezbollah commander who led the operation which resulted in the kidnapping of Goldwasser and Regev.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser 370 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser 370
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV revealed details of the kidnapping of two IDF soldiers, which led to the 2006 Lebanon war. The video shows what appears to be Hezbollah forces preparing for the mission in the same place where the 2006 kidnapping took place.
Khalid Bazzi, also known as Hajj Qasim, led the operation for Hezbollah and is shown on the video to be involved in the planning of the attack in – what the program claims – is the site from where the attack was actually launched. He is shown standing up high in the tree observing the site of where the attack would take place, while another soldier is on the ground under him.
The video also showed live video of the attack with Hezbollah militants jumping out from trees and bushes to attack an approaching IDF vehicle. The footage of the attack appears to be from previously released material.
Bazzi was killed by an Israeli air strike during the war.
On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah terrorists attacked a group of Israeli soldiers in Israeli territory, killing eight and kidnapping IDF reservists Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser. Israel responded by attacking Hezbollah and other targets in Lebanon, and Hezbollah responded by firing numerous Katyusha rockets at Israeli population centers for more than 100 days.
The bodies of the two IDF soldiers were returned to Israel in an exchange in 2008 for Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar.
An article on Al-Manar’s website from earlier this month stated that during the 2006 war “the Zionist entity used all its power to destroy Hezbollah, but failed in achieving the least of its goals.” Israel then “pulled out defeated” and today, Hezbollah is much stronger than it was in the summer of 2006, according to the article.
The article also quotes media reports noting the recent decision by the IDF to reduce and restructure its forces.