The Israeli military chief of staff said Israel was preparing a ground offensive in Lebanon. The army called up two reserve brigades and continued its deadly air strikes on Lebanon for a third day.
Herzi Halevi told soldiers in northern Israel on Wednesday that recent airstrikes were aimed at “laying the ground for a potential entry,” the clearest reference yet to a potential ground operation against the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah after the Israeli air force dramatically increased its airstrikes in Lebanon on Monday.
“We are preparing for a maneuver into enemy territory, which means your military boots, your maneuver boots, will enter a town that Hezbollah has prepared as a large military outpost,” Halevi said.
Iran-allied Hezbollah “has expanded its range and will receive a very strong response later today. Be prepared,” Halevy added, referring to a missile launch that Hezbollah said targeted the Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv.
Earlier, the Israeli military said it was calling up two reserve brigades in the north to continue the fight against Hezbollah and to allow thousands of civilians displaced by crossfire to return north. This is also the stated purpose of this week’s deadly offensive into Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his pledge to bring back displaced Israelis in a short video message on Wednesday and said Hezbollah was being hit “harder than anyone could imagine.”
“I can’t go into detail about everything we’re doing, but I can tell you one thing: We are determined to get our people up north home safely,” he said.
Lebanon’s health minister said at least 51 people were killed on Wednesday in a series of Israeli airstrikes, bringing the death toll over the past three days to 615, with more than 2,000 wounded.
Early in the morning, Hezbollah fired dozens of missiles at Israel, including long-range missiles that set off air strike alerts in Tel Aviv and across the central part of the country. Israel said the missiles were intercepted, saying they were the first to reach the central region. It added that no casualties or damage were reported.
Hezbollah said it fired a ballistic missile at the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, where it said it targeted and killed senior officials. Israel later said it attacked the site of the missile launch in southern Lebanon.
Tens of thousands flee
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 90,000 people have fled the southern part of the country and sought refuge in the north.
Cars chocked the streets as they left the southern city, aid agencies appealed for blood donations and schools were turned into shelters.
The IOM said the World Health Organization and the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health are preparing for a mass casualty situation in Lebanon and maintaining essential services, including mental health support, despite critically low health stock levels and urgent resupply.
The exchange of fire has alarmed world leaders and sparked a diplomatic frenzy. U.S. President Joe Biden said there is still room for diplomacy, even though a full-scale war is possible in the region. “I think there is a possibility of a full-scale war, but I think there is also a chance. We are still working on a deal that could fundamentally change the entire region,” Biden said on ABC’s The View on Wednesday.
Reuters reported that the United States is leading a new diplomatic effort to end hostilities in Gaza and Lebanon, linking the two conflicts as part of a single initiative, citing seven sources familiar with the initiative. Details can be read in the report that it is being discussed at the UN General Assembly in New York. The sources said this is the first time that the two fronts have been linked as part of a US diplomatic push.
Since Israel launched its offensive against Gaza on October 7, Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged rocket fire almost daily, displacing tens of thousands of people living near the border. But the exchanges have been largely confined to the border area and primarily target military targets, but tensions have escalated dramatically since last week when Israel announced it would shift its military focus to the northern border.
Last week, a massive explosion of pagers and other communication devices belonging to Hezbollah members killed at least 42 people and wounded more than 3,000. Israel has not denied or confirmed responsibility for the attacks. This week, Israel struck a blow to the group’s military leadership by killing Ibrahim Kobeish, the head of the missile division, and Ibrahim Aqil, the deputy commander of the elite Radwan unit, in two separate attacks.
