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by: Kate Norman
As tensions rise in the north, the IDF is preparing for a ground operation in Lebanon (illustrative).
Tuesday, 17 September 2024 | The likelihood of war between Israel and Hezbollah in the north continues growing, as the head of the Israeli military’s Northern Command is reportedly pushing for a ground operation in southern Lebanon against the Iran-backed terrorist group.
Hezbollah has been firing projectiles into northern Israel since October 8, 2023—the day after Hamas launched its devastating attack against Israel. Some 60,000 civilians have been forced to evacuate their homes near the border with Lebanon, fleeing the Hezbollah drone and missile attacks.
“The current situation will not continue,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of a government meeting on Sunday in a statement published by his office. “This requires a change in the balance of forces on our northern border. We will do whatever is necessary to return our residents securely to their homes.”
“I am committed to this,” the prime minister added. “The government is committed to this and we will not suffice with less than this.”
The Israel Defense Forces [IDF] appears to be bracing itself for battle on the northern front, as the Defense Ministry announced that it reequipped 97 emergency standby squads in the north with weapons, uniforms, medical equipment and other supplies, the Jerusalem Post reported yesterday.
Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, the IDF Northern Command chief, is pushing for an Israeli operation in southern Lebanon to create a buffer zone between Hezbollah and northern Israel, Israel’s Kan and Channel 13 news reported.
This has reportedly led to disagreements between Israel’s top politicians and defense leaders on how to move forward—whether to go into southern Lebanon, take on Hezbollah and attempt to create the buffer zone and allow civilians to return to their homes in northern Israel, or whether such a move would start a war with the well-equipped, Iran-back terrorist group.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is reportedly against the move, according to unnamed sources quoted on Israeli media, preferring to continue with diplomatic attempts to end the fighting.
US Special Envoy Amos Hochstein is attempting to head negotiations to bring about that diplomatic solution. Hochstein arrived in Israel on Monday to meet with Gallant and other Israeli leaders to continue discussions in an attempt to preventing an Israel–Hezbollah war.
Gallant also spoke with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the phone Monday, according to Gallant’s office. Gallant warned Austin that the possibility of a diplomatic solution is slipping away as Hezbollah continues to “tie itself” to Hamas, as quoted by the Jerusalem Post.
Most recently Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets Sunday morning toward the Galilee and the Golan Heights in northern Israel, the Jewish News Syndicate reported, causing no casualties or damage other than sparking fires.
Hezbollah said that it was targeting an IDF base, responding to IDF strikes on Saturday and Sunday. The IDF announced on X on Saturday that it had struck more than 140 terrorist targets in Lebanon, including a weapons manufacturing site, terrorist infrastructure, weapons warehouses, launchers aimed toward northern Israel and terrorist units.
Posted on September 17, 2024
Source: (Bridges for Peace, September 17, 2024)
Photo Credit: Israel Defence Forces/Wikimedia.org
Photo License: Wikimedia
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