2023-12-27 21:14:00
27.12.2023 22:14
(Akt. 27.12.2023 22:14)
Israeli army chief Halevi also ready to strike against Hezbollah ©APA/AFP/POOL
The Israeli military is increasingly ready to significantly expand the fight against the Shiite militia Hezbollah in Lebanon. “Today we approved a number of plans for the future and we must be ready for an offensive if necessary,” Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said on Wednesday during a visit to the army command in the northern Israeli city of Safed. Halevi made the comments after an airstrike against Hezbollah positions in the neighboring country to the north.
“The Israel Defense Forces and its Northern Command are at a very high level of readiness,” Halevi added. Since the attack by the Islamist Hamas, which operates from the Gaza Strip, on the border area in southern Israel on October 7th, the Israeli military has been engaged in constant battles with Hezbollah units in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah fired rockets at the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona on Wednesday. Israeli police said several buildings were damaged. People were therefore not injured. At the beginning of the Gaza war, the authorities brought tens of thousands of residents of the northern region into the interior of the country for security reasons.
Israeli attacks on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon left three people dead on Wednesday, including a Hezbollah fighter, the Lebanese news agency NNA reported. The place is considered a stronghold of Hezbollah and was the scene of fierce fighting between the Shiite militia and the Israeli military during the 2006 Lebanon War.
The fighting since the beginning of October represents the worst military confrontation in this location since the second Lebanon war in 2006. But experts say they still follow certain unspoken rules. Both sides have so far avoided further escalation. Hezbollah, which is equipped by Iran, essentially controls the government in Lebanon and has a missile arsenal that threatens Israel. The Jewish state, in turn, is militarily capable of inflicting untold damage on Lebanon.
1703726909
#Israel #ready #offensive #Lebanon #Politics