Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the latest Israeli airstrikes were designed to ”prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah”
The Israeli army is possibly preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon after Hezbollah launched a missile aimed at Tel Aviv.
The move comes after Hezbollah hurled dozens of projectiles into Israel, including a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that was the militant group’s deepest strike yet, the Associated Press reported. Addressing troops on the northern border, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the latest Israeli airstrikes were designed to ”prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”
“Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves,” Halevi said in an apparent reference to the missile aimed at Tel Aviv. To achieve the goal of returning the displaced citizens of northern Israel to their homes, “we are preparing the process of a maneuver,” he said.
Hezbollah hurled dozens of projectiles into Israel, including a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that was the militant group’s deepest strike yet (
AP)
In recent days, the Israeli military has said it had no immediate plans for a ground invasion. Halevi’s statement was the strongest yet from an Israeli leader suggesting that troops could move in.
It is the latest development in the escalating conflict in the Middle East. On Tuesday the death toll climbed to almost 560 people.
Earlier this week Israel blasted approximately 1,300 ‘Hezbollah weapons sites’ across Lebanon, killing 492 individuals in what was the deadliest day of fighting between the IDF and the paramilitary group since the 2006 war.
On Tuesday the death toll climbed to almost 560 people (
AP)
The back-and-forth conflict has thousands of people fleeing southern Lebanon as the two sides inch closer to total warfare. Those who have fled the increased fighting have taken refuge in shelters that have been set up in schools in Beirut and Lebanon’s coastal city of Sidon. Hotels in the area have been quickly booked to capacity or have a price tag much higher than the means of many families. The result is that many people are now sleeping in cars, parks or the seaside.
The growing fear of all-out conflict comes a little more than a week after thousands of pagers laced with explosives went off across the besieged country injuring thousands.
Since the attack, Israel’s Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, declared that a “new phase” of the war has begun. “We are at the start of a new phase in the war – it requires courage, determination and perseverance,” he said to his troops. During the speech, Gallant praised the work of his troops and the country’s security agencies.
