Israel Begins Ground Offensive In Lebanon
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israeli troops have entered Lebanon as the anticipated ground offensive has begun, Israel’s military confirmed early Tuesday, local time.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) suggested that the invasion was focused on the infrastructure of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed fighting force that relentlessly attacked Israel with a barrage of rockets and drones, forcing tens of thousands of Israeli citizens from their homes.
“The IDF began limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon,” Israel’s military said. Israel has accused Hezbollah, Hamas, and other “terror groups” of using civilians “as human shields.”
It says it tries to avoid hitting innocent civilians as much as possible but adds that such casualties can’t be avoided altogether.
As the invasion was underway Tuesday, evacuation warnings were issued to residents of the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, Israeli sources said.
There were also reports of an Israeli air strike on Syria’s capital, Damascus that authorities claimed killed three civilians.
Israel has made clear it fights “Iran’s proxies“ on multiple fronts, making clear that a Lebanon ground offensive would not deviate its military from other “terror threats.”
‘METHODICAL PLAN’
In Lebanon itself, the IDF will carry out “a methodical plan set out by the General Staff and the Northern Command, which soldiers have trained and prepared for in recent months,” Israel’s military stressed.
Arabic sources said IDF tanks had entered multiple villages in southern Lebanon shortly after initial reports of the ground invasion.
It was not immediately clear how many Israeli troops were in Lebanon, but the scale of the operation suggested that thousands had entered.
Since Israel increased pressure on Hezbollah last month, the escalation in the war has killed more than 1,000 people, destroyed homes, and displaced 1 million in Lebanon, authorities say. The death toll could not be verified independently, and it was unclear how many combatants were among those killed.
Yet Hezbollah warned it would choose a leader “as soon as possible” after Israel assassinated its chief, Hassan Nasrallah, ahead of the invasion.
It also vowed to continue fighting Israel in support of Palestinians, even after a growing number of senior figures were killed and the ongoing ground offensive.
Worthy News reported earlier that Israel’s military operation was also closely followed in Iran, where the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been taken to a secure location amid heightened security concerns.
WARNING TO IRAN
Tehran fears he might be next on Israel’s primary target list of key persons after the September 27 killing of Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Tehran, however, that nowhere in the Middle East “beyond Israel’s reach” days after his country’s military killed the leader of Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Netanyahu sought to make clear that Israel’s enemy was the Iranian government, not the Iranian people, and that when the Islamic “regime” fell, its people would be better off in a free Iran.
Ahead of the operation in Lebanon, he also stressed that Israel’s fight was not against the people in the region but against those seeking the destruction of the Jewish nation and its people.
He said Israel “yearns for peace. Israel has made peace and will make peace again.”
Yet those words, at least for now, seemed far removed from realities on the ground, adding to international concerns that the rapidly widening armed conflict could engulf the Middle East and further impact the world.