Israel prepares ground offensive in Lebanon, says military chief

After the first launch of a Hezbollah rocket on Tel Aviv The Israeli army is preparing a Ground offensive in Lebanon To do this, the infrastructure of the radical Islamic militia should first be destroyed, said Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi on Wednesday. The army had previously carried out “large-scale” attacks against the Shiite militia. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, 51 people died and 223 were injured on Wednesday.

An Israeli military spokesman described the rocket launch as an “escalation.” “It is the very first time that a Hezbollah rocket has reached the Tel Aviv area,” said an Israeli military spokesman. Hezbollah is “clearly trying to escalate the situation.”

The Israeli army said it had attacked the rocket launcher from which the rocket was fired near Nafahiyeh in southern Lebanon. Warplanes also carried out “wide-scale” attacks on Hezbollah facilities in Lebanon. The air force hit “terrorists working on terrorist infrastructure, weapons storage facilities, rocket launchers and other Hezbollah terrorist targets,” it said.

USA concerned about escalation

The United States expressed concern about the escalation. US President Joe Biden said in an interview with the television station ABCthat a “full-scale war” in the Middle East is possible. But there is also the possibility of a solution, he added. According to insiders, the US wants to launch a new peace initiative to end the fighting in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. This will be the first attempt to find a joint solution to both conflicts, said several people familiar with the matter. The details will be negotiated during the current UN General Assembly. “The danger of escalation in the region is acute,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The US and its allies are doing everything they can to prevent a full-blown war.

In view of the ongoing fighting with Hezbollah, the Israeli military ordered two reserve brigades to the north of the country. “The IDF is calling two reserve brigades for operational deployments in the northern region,” the armed forces announced on Wednesday. “This will make it possible to continue the fight against the terrorist organization Hezbollah, defend the State of Israel and create the conditions for the return of the residents of northern Israel to their homeland,” it continued.

Hezbollah rocket commander killed

The ongoing military conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has recently intensified. On Monday, the Israeli military carried out the largest operation against the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in Lebanon since the beginning of the Gaza war. According to the Lebanese government, more than 600 people have already been killed. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Wednesday that the current fighting had already forced 90,000 people to flee in Lebanon. Almost 40,000 people have found shelter in 283 emergency shelters.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army launched a second wave of attacks. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 18 attacks on Israel, while Israel said the militia had fired around 300 rockets. Hezbollah also confirmed the death of Ibrahim Qubaisi, the commander in charge of its rocket arsenal, in an Israeli attack on the capital Beirut.

In the attacks on Wednesday, four people died in the village of Joun in the Chouf Mountains southeast of Beirut, and three in the village of Maaysra about 25 kilometers north of the capital, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said. Nine people were killed in Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, and seven more in an attack on Baalbek-Hermel in the east.

Tensions have escalated since October 7

Since the unprecedented attack on Israel by the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas, allied with Hezbollah, on October 7, 2023 and the resulting war in the Gaza Strip, regional tensions have escalated. Israel’s north has been under Continuous bombardment by HezbollahThe Israeli army responded to the attacks with Counterattacks in Lebanon.

On Wednesday, the UN Security Council wanted to discuss the situation in Lebanon in an emergency meeting. The meeting at 6 p.m. local time (Thursday 12 midnight CEST) was also attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres He warned on Tuesday at the start of the general debate of the UN General Assembly in New York that everything must be done “to prevent Lebanon from becoming another Gaza”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will also speak at the general debate, postponed his departure to New York until Thursday, his office said. He had announced on Tuesday that Israel would “continue to attack Hezbollah.”

The spiritual leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meanwhile, said in Tehran that Israel’s targeted killing of Hezbollah commanders would “not bring the militia to its knees.” Hezbollah’s “authority, capabilities and strength” “cannot be seriously affected by the loss of these martyrs,” Khamenei said.