One of the memes being circulated on social media (@amjadt25 - X)

See It: Hezbollah's Rocket Hits Chicken Coop, Sparking Arab Social Media Mockery

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The Judean Staff
International

than fear, Hezbollah's much-hyped "retaliation" against Israel has been reduced to nothing more than a punchline across the Arab world. The militant group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had promised a significant and symbolic strike following the death of their military commander, Fuad Shukr, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike. Yet, instead of a powerful response that would shake the region, Hezbollah's attack on Sunday morning resulted in little more than damage to a few houses—and a chicken coop in the quiet Israeli Moshav of Ramot Naftali.

The aftermath of the "Battle of the Chicken," as it is now being dubbed on social media, has sparked a wave of mockery that is spreading like wildfire across the internet. Instead of striking fear into the hearts of their enemies, Hezbollah has inadvertently become the target of countless memes and jokes, with their so-called "resistance" reduced to rubble by the derision of their own supporters and detractors alike.

Under a post by Saudi news channel Al-Arabiya, which showed the burning chicken coop, one Saudi user couldn’t resist poking fun at Hezbollah’s botched operation: “After the battle of the chicken, they have the right to respond to the chicken attack.” The internet quickly seized on this imagery, with AI-generated images depicting chickens under heavy rocket fire, further fueling the frenzy of online ridicule. Andrew Fox, who is a former paratrooper and popular British X account personality who often is a guest on numerous "Spaces" about the Gaza war and Israel's northern border called the failed Hezbollah attack a "henocide".

Another user sarcastically commented, “The chicken massacre was not a coincidence, but a strategic plan! The goal? To prevent the opponents and enemies of the ‘resistance’ from gloating after every bombing and saying they didn't even hurt a chicken.” The absurdity of the situation, wherein a terrorist group’s grand retaliation resulted in little more than singed feathers, has not been lost on the public.

Amjad Taha, a prominent Emirati journalist, broke ranks with the typical Arab response, instead opting to shame Hezbollah’s exaggerated claims of success. Comparing the resilience of Israeli chickens to the cowardice of Hamas militants, Taha tweeted, “What’s amazing is that even Israeli chickens didn’t run away; they stood firm on their ground and survived those rockets, while Hamas terrorists in Gaza hide like rats. At least learn from an Israeli chicken. Hezbollah should pay for this.” His post was accompanied by avideo of Israeli firefighters putting out the blaze by the coop, which quickly went viral.

In a scathing yet humorous critique, Jonathan Schanzer from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies commented on the situation with a witty pun, saying "Nasrallah was clucking unhappy about the strikes only hitting a chicken coup," playing on the irony that this was the sum total of Hezbollah's mighty retaliation.

Even more biting was a Kuwaiti user named Fahed, who shared a grim photo of a dead chicken, captioned: “Allahu Akbar! Hassan Nasrallah’s response! Hezbollah’s response! The number of chicken injuries rose to 27 chickens, 5 of them critically injured, with first-degree burns to the wings and beak, after the chicken pen was targeted in response to the assassination of Fuad Shukr. He says ‘Our missiles are accurate!’” This tongue-in-cheek commentary laid bare the absurdity of Hezbollah’s claims in stark terms.

The social media barrage continued, with one user summing up the new "rules of conflict" with the declaration: "Now these are the rules of the conflict, for every Hezbollah commander, one Israeli chicken." This mockery points to a deeper frustration with Hezbollah's repeated justifications for their violence, which now seem more desperate and hollow than ever.

In the lead-up to this attack, the world had been bracing for Hezbollah's response, fearing it could escalate into a broader conflict. The Iranian-backed militia had vowed to make Israel pay dearly for the assassination of Shukr, and many expected a significant escalation that could destabilize the entire region. Yet, when the moment came, the devastation was found not in military bases or critical infrastructure, but in the charred remains of a modest chicken coop.

Firefighters were dispatched to douse the small flames left by the rocket, while the coop’s owner, seemingly unfazed, was seen clearing debris from among his resilient flock. The stark contrast between Hezbollah's rhetoric and the actual outcome could not have been more glaring.

Nasrallah had claimed that Glilot, a major Israeli military intelligence base near Tel Aviv, was the primary target. But Israeli authorities swiftly debunked this claim, pointing out that there were no impacts on IDF bases, neither in the north nor in the center of the country. Instead, the most significant damage caused by Hezbollah's barrage of 300 drones and rockets was a minor fire in a chicken farm.

Tragically, the only confirmed fatality from the attack was not even in the intended target area. David Moshe Ben Shitrit, a 21-year-old Israeli naval patrolman, lost his life under circumstances that remain under investigation—whether from shrapnel or a misfired Iron Dome missile remains unclear. His death, amidst an exchange of fire after Israel's preemptive strikes, stands in stark contrast to the mockery being directed at Hezbollah’s chicken coop debacle.

As the conflict on Israel's northern border drags on, Hezbollah’s strategy of attrition—characterized by constant, low-level attacks rather than a full-scale invasion—has inflicted some civilian casualties and displaced tens of thousands. However, the group's credibility has taken a significant hit as its much-vaunted retaliation has amounted to little more than a farce, leaving them to face not just the might of the IDF, but also the scorn and ridicule of the very people they claim to protect.

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