Israel launches small ground raids against Lebanon

Ahram Online , Monday 30 Sep 2024

Israel launched small ground raids against Lebanon, Israeli officials told AP Monday, and it declared three of its northern communities as a "closed military zone” as signals grew that more forces could soon be sent.

airstrike
Smoke plumes erupt after an Israeli airstrike targeted the the village of Khiam in southern Lebanon near the border with northern Israel on September 30, 2024. AFP

 

There were no reports of direct clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants on Lebanese soil.

NBC quoting an American official said Israel has already begun reconnaissance operations and deployed engineers to carry out tasks such as breaching barriers. 

Meanwhile, Lebanese security source told Al Jazeera that the Lebanese army redeployed to border points following the Israeli threats of a ground incrusion.

Al-Manar TV correspondent said "the Lebanese army evacuated the observation points on the front edge of the border with occupied Palestine (southern border with Israel) to join the brigades’ centers in the border towns."

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said earlier that Israel informed the US about the incrusion, which he claimed were described as “limited operations focused on Hezbollah infrastructure near the border.”

But, CBS News said, 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.

Heavy shelling attacks have been reported in a Lebanese border village across from areas declared a “closed military zone” by Israel.

In the nearby Syrian Golan Heights, occupied by Israel, an Associated Press reporter heard the sounds of Israeli artillery fire and explosions in southern Lebanon. 

Early on Monday, Hezbollah vowed to keep fighting even after its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top officials were assassinated by Israeli strikes.

The spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General said on Monday that UN peacekeepers in Lebanon (UNIFIL) have been unable to conduct patrols due to the intensity of "Israeli" airstrikes.  

Stéphane Dujarric told reporters that "UNIFIL forces remain in their positions within the mission's designated area, as the intensity of the fighting hampers their movement and ability to perform their duties."  

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