Hezbollah Targeted Israel's Trump Heights The Day After Election
This week Hezbollah rockets targeted Israel's Trump Heights settlement, a remote community in the central Golan Heights - which was taken from Syria after the Six Day War of 1967.
Iranian state media as well as a report in Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen indicated that Hezbollah specifically targeted Trump Height the day after he won the Tuesday US presidential election.
"Sirens sounded in Trump Heights as Hezbollah rocket attack targeted the Golan Heights on Wednesday," an Israeli regional sources also said. "The attack came shortly after the election results were announced, indicating that Trump was the victor."
The tiny Jewish settlement was named after Trump in 2019, during his first term, in acknowledgement of his declaring that the US recognizes Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
It was an ultra-controversial move at the time, given most of the rest of the world considers it "Israeli-occupied territory" belonging to Syria.
At the time of the attack sirens blared not just in Trump Heights, but across other locations of northern and central Israel.
But the "Trump Heights" designation has always been more about a PR move for the existing community to improve and expand, as the Associated Press explains:
But a large-scale influx of new residents never materialized after that 2019 ceremony, and just a couple dozen families live in Trump Heights, or “Ramat Trump” in Hebrew. Job opportunities are limited, and Israel’s more than yearlong war against Hezbollah militants in nearby Lebanon has added to the sense of isolation.
Trump’s election has inspired hope in the community that it will attract more members and also more funding for security improvements.
Hezbollah is salty after Trumps win.
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) November 6, 2024
Hezbollah launched rockets targeting Ramat Trump, the town named after Trump in recognition of his acknowledgment of the Golan Heights as part of Israel. pic.twitter.com/ecp6ISgAmx
One resident observed that "President Trump’s return to the White House definitely puts the town in the headlines."
It had also made big headlines when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went there for an unveiling ceremony in 2019. During that June 2019 ceremony, BBC noted that "Building work has yet to begin but a sign bearing Mr Trump's name and US and Israeli flags was unveiled. However, it also noted that "Critics called the move a publicity stunt with no legal authority."