Israeli army attacked southern Lebanon. international

The Israeli army this Tuesday launched the ground offensive in southern Lebanon that it has been threatening for several weeks. At approximately 02:00 (01:00 in mainland Spain) and following its approval by the Benjamin Netanyahu-led security cabinet, the armed forces launched “limited, local and selective raids against Hezbollah terrorist targets in the border area”. Announced. of southern Lebanon” which “poses an immediate threat to areas of northern Israel.” The attack is also accompanied by air and artillery fire. This is “the next phase of the war,” as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said a few hours ago. Lebanese armed forces are retreating five kilometers from the border, while Israeli warplanes also violently bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs, after informing civilians to leave three parts of it “immediately”. After midnight the attacks could be heard and seen throughout the city.

The Israeli military – which had informed its American counterparts earlier in the day about the “imminence” of a ground offensive and intensive bombardment of towns such as Wazzani, Khiyam and Marjayoun – is acting according to “a systematic plan” which The soldiers have been “training and preparing” for months, he said in a statement.

From now on, Northern Arrow, the name of the offensive that Israel launched on the 23rd (the deadliest day in Lebanon since the end of the civil war in 1990, with more than 550 deaths in a few hours) “will continue. According to the analysis of the situation and the parallel to the fighting in Gaza and other areas, the United States will send thousands more troops to the region as a deterrent in defense of its ally.

In an extraordinary decision, the Israeli army has also declared the cities of Metula, Misgav Am and Kfar Giladi as “closed military zones”, where entry is “strictly prohibited”. He had been massing troops on the border for several days and carrying out small raids on Lebanese soil to conduct reconnaissance of the area. Last-minute diplomatic appeals to stop the attack were of no avail.

Israeli officials stressed its “limited” nature, aimed at attacking the infrastructure of the Shiite militia Hezbollah after two weeks of bombardment that killed more than a thousand people and reached the center of the capital for the first time this Monday. Had arrived. “We have been briefed about several operations, I have seen reports on ground operations. We have had some conversations with him about this. We are told these are limited operations focused on Hezbollah infrastructure near the border. But we are continuing to engage with them on this issue,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at his daily press conference on Monday.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed in a message on the social network X after the start of the invasion that he discussed Israel’s plans with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Galant this Monday. “We agreed on the need to destroy the infrastructure of border attacks to ensure that Hezbollah does not stop the attacks against communities in northern Israel since October 7 (last year), when Hamas launched a massive attack on Israel, triggering the war. Had happened) could not carry out such attacks. , At the same time, he also called for a “diplomatic solution” so that displaced civilians on both sides of the border can return to their homes. He also reiterated that “Iran would face serious consequences if it chose to launch a direct attack against Israel.”

He number two Hezbollah’s Naim Qassem mentioned the possible attack on Friday morning in the first speech by a leader of the organization since the assassination of its leader Hassan Nasrallah. “If the enemy decides to enter by land, our forces are ready for war. “We are sure that Israel will not achieve its objectives (…) We will win just like we won in 2006,” he said, referring to the conflict that ousted Hezbollah. It has become a myth in the Arab world because it occupied Israel for 34 days and killed 121 of its soldiers.

“Military Pressure”

Washington is trying to pressure Israel to reduce the scope of the operation and prevent it from getting out of control or turning into a long-term occupation of southern Lebanon, as it did between 1982 and 2000 with the same official objective. The move went from moving the border to the enemy, then to Palestine Liberation Organization fighters, and which ultimately gave rise to Hezbollah. But this does not rule out intrusion. “Sometimes military pressure can support diplomacy. But military pressure can also lead to miscalculations and unintended consequences. “We are in talks with Israel right now on all these factors,” Miller said.

US President Joe Biden reiterated this Monday that a ceasefire would be the best solution to the crisis. Asked by reporters if he felt comfortable with the possibility of an invasion, he replied: “I’m more aware than you can imagine, and I’m comfortable with them stopping. We must now have a ceasefire.”

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said that as tensions have increased, the Pentagon has mobilized more forces in anticipation of a possible deployment. They number in the thousands and cover “a wide range of capabilities and missions”, including fighter squadrons. Its mission will be to reinforce the approximately 40,000 troops that the United States has deployed in the Middle East, in countries such as Iraq, Syria or Jordan. In addition, the United States has aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Oman. abraham lincolnWhich has increased its mission in the area, while another aircraft carrier, Harry Truman, as part of a previously scheduled mission, had left the US naval base in Norfolk a week earlier to head towards the Mediterranean Sea.

Washington maintains frequent contacts with Israeli officials and other Arab and European allies regarding the crisis, in which it has positioned itself even more clearly on the side of its Israeli ally than during the invasion of Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced during a State Department conference call on Monday that Washington will continue to cooperate with its allies in the region and the rest of the world to achieve diplomatic solutions.

The United States and France last week proposed a 21-day ceasefire that would open the door to negotiations that would resolve the situation on the Blue Line, the demarcation between Israel and Lebanon. There, Israeli forces and Hezbollah have been locked in a firefight since the war in Gaza began nearly a year ago, and more than 160,000 people have been forced to flee their homes on both sides of the border. Netanyahu responded to the resolution with an inflammatory speech at the UN General Assembly last week and approval of the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. It was the climax of an intense 11-day attack, which began with the blast of thousands of beepers and walkie talkie And hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by this. More than 120 people have died in bombings in the past 24 hours, a figure similar to the daily death toll in Gaza.

The French Foreign Minister, Jean Noel Barrot, made a final appeal this Monday to Beirut to avoid an invasion, no matter how desperate. He said in a press release, “I urge the parties to take advantage of (the ceasefire proposal) now (…(…) This initiative is still on the table. There is still hope, but very little time left. Is.” conference.

The Israeli defense minister was not alone in talking about the “next phase” of the conflict at a meeting on Monday with mayors of northern Israel’s border towns, where about 66,000 people have been evacuated. The army also reported that Ori Gordin, head of the Israeli army’s Northern Command, had approved “plans for the coming days” and that the 188 Brigade – which has fought for months in Gaza – had “trained near”. Border’s “North” community defense units recently simulated how to respond to an infiltration by Hezbollah militants, similar to a Hamas attack or mass shelling on October 7, 2023.