The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has met little resistance since it announced its “limited” offensive in southern Lebanon early Tuesday morning local time, a move aimed at dismantling Hezbollah’s construction along the shared border.
Israel has been increasing its strikes for weeks against the terrorist organization in southern Lebanon, as well as targeted strikes in Beirut.
On Tuesday, the IDF confirmed in a statement shared with Fox News Digital that since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel – after which Hezbollah began raiding military positions along Israel’s northern border – the IDF has carried out a number of “targeted operations” ” to dismantle the terrorist forces of Hezbollah” that pose a threat to civilians in the north.
Smoke billows from Israeli bombings in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
ISRAEL’S PRIME MINISTER FURIOUS ABOUT OUR, IDF LEAKS ON LEBANON OPERATIONS: REPORT
IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday that IDF special forces entered Hezbollah strongholds “in many places” along the Israel-Lebanon border, collected intelligence and dismantled strongholds.
“Our troops entered Hezbollah’s underground infrastructure, exposed Hezbollah’s hidden weapons, seized and destroyed weapons, including advanced weapons manufactured in Iran,” Hagari said. “In total, IDF soldiers exposed and dispersed more than 700 Hezbollah terrorists during this operation. And there is still much work to be done.”
Since the war began almost a year ago, it has been reported that Israeli special forces have begun to attack less and less in southern Lebanon, in some cases using the same tunnels that Israel captured from the terrorist group years ago, and the Hezbollah network has been reactivated.
The terrorist group has for years relied on its tight grip on civilian life, especially in southern Lebanon, where it has leased public infrastructure to serve as weapons depots and missile launch sites. Public buildings have also been used to close entrances to the group’s extensive tunnel network estimated to stretch more than 100 miles in length cumulatively across the region.
The Israeli army shows the inside of a tunnel on the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon in northern Israel on June 3, 2019. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)
But despite the fearsome war that could erupt from Israel’s attack on its northern neighbor, Hezbollah’s resistance has been minimal.
PENTAGON SENDS ‘TWO THOUSAND’ PERSONNEL TO MIDDLE EAST A DAY AFTER BIDEN SAYS HE WOULDN’T ADD TROOPS
Security experts fear that Hezbollah’s long-term support for Iran will enable it to fire up to 8,000 rockets a day in a worst-case scenario, and its more than 50,000 personnel, including Radwan’s elite forces, could pose a major threat to Israel’s campaign.
Hagari confirmed to reporters on Tuesday that IDF soldiers are working hard to demolish the Radwan infrastructure near the southern border of Lebanon.
“We must take care of it because we will not allow the 7th of October to continue near our border,” he said.
After the October 7 attack, the IDF assessed that 2,400 Radwan terrorists, along with another 500 Palestinian jihadists trained by the special forces, were positioned in villages in southern Lebanon ready to attack.
But the IDF on Tuesday also highlighted that Hezbollah had failed to mobilize forces in response to the Israeli attack.
Israeli artillery soldiers are surrounded by smoke and dust as they fire across the border into southern Lebanon from the border area of ​​Zaura, in northern Israel, on July 12, 2006. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)
Jonathan Conricus, a former IDF spokesman and current fellow of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told Fox News Digital that Hezbollah’s complete lack of an opposition force can be explained by several reasons.
“The IDF has conducted hundreds of special operations in recent months to map and analyze Hezbollah’s hostile infrastructure in public housing in southern Lebanon, as well as air campaigns against Hezbollah operatives,” he said. “Hezbollah terrorists received serious injuries and started fleeing to southern Lebanon.
“It is not clear how many Hezbollah terrorists remain in the south,” he added.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM
An Israeli Apache helicopter fires a missile towards southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Given the unknown number of insurgents who have fled to the south, possibly to other strongholds in Beirut and central Lebanon, reporters asked the current IDF spokesman if this would mean that Israel would need to increase its operations in the north.
“We will not go to Beirut,” Hagari told reporters, emphasizing Israel’s stated goal of returning its citizens to their homes in the north. “We are focusing on those villages, which are adjacent to it [the] border. And we will do, in this area, what is necessary to dismantle and destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure. “
Hagari would not give details on the timeline of the operation but said that Israel’s operation in Lebanon would be carried out “within days.” [to] weeks.”