Israel informs Washington of imminent ground invasion in Lebanon

Ahram Online , Monday 30 Sep 2024

Israel has informed the United States that it is planning a ground invasion in Lebanon that may start imminently.

Israeli soldiers
Israeli soldiers are deployed in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on September 29, 2024. AFP

 

The US department has been "engaged in conversations" with Israel about "limited operations" near the border with Lebanon, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Monday. But Miller said he would leave Israel to speak about its own plans

He also said that while the US “still supports” a ceasefire in Lebanon, “but at the same time, military pressure can at times enable diplomacy,” appearing to support Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.

Meanwhile, CBS News confirmed, quoting an unnamed US official, that Israel could launch a ground incursion against Lebanon "within hours."

​Like other American outlets, the report claims the attack will be limited.

The invasion will be smaller than Israel’s 2006 war and will focus on security for Israeli border communities, an American official told the Washington Post.

However, according to the Financial Times, Washington, which discussed the shape of the planned incursion with Israel, has sought to limit its scope and duration, "fearing it could lead to an open-ended occupation of Lebanon’s border area."

“We believe we’ve reached an understanding where instead they will do something more targeted, focused on specific areas — and focused on clearing out Hezbollah infrastructure near Israeli border communities — and then pulling their forces back,” a US official told the paper.

US President Joe Biden has hinted that he opposes Israeli ground operations in Lebanon, calling for a ceasefire at a time of extreme tension following the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

"I'm more aware than you might know, and I'm comfortable with them stopping. We should have a ceasefire now," Biden told reporters when he was asked if he was aware of reports of Israeli plans for a limited operation and if he was comfortable with one going ahead.

A large number of Israeli tanks and soldiers were seen near Israel’s border with Lebanon, Al Jazeera reported.

 

Israel's Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant said on Monday that ground forces could be used in Lebanon, adding army operations will go on despite the killing of Hassan Nasrallah.

Gallant made the comments while speaking to Israeli troops deployed to the northern border where cross-border fire with Hezbollah continued for nearly a year but escalated this month.

Israel killed Nasrallah on Friday in an air strike on southern Beirut.

Israel had intensified air raids against Lebanon since 23 September, killing at least 1,100 people and wounding 6,000 in a week of relentless strikes.

Hezbollah announced Monday, that it targeted the Israeli settlement of Kfar Giladi with a Noor missile.  

Earlier the group announced that it had targeted several settlements in northern Israel with rocket weapons.

In three separate statements, the Lebanese resistance group announced "the targeting of the settlements of Gesher Haziv, Sa'ar, and Kabri with rockets," saying its members had targeted an Israeli infantry force at the Israeli site of "Saddah" with artillery shells.  

They also targeted the Israeli "Naoura" base with Fadi 2 rockets. Additionally, they targeted the city of Safed in Israel with rockets.

Later, Israel declared areas around three northern border settlements as closed military zone.

The Israeli army said entry to the areas around the settlements of Metula, Misgav Am, and Kfar Giladi was prohibited. 

 

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