The Israeli army indicated for the first time on Wednesday that the ground attack would continue Hezbollah in Lebanon, with a top commander stressing the need to be ready to “manage and take action” against the Iran-backed group. This comes after passing a the week of the air raids that Lebanese officials say killed more than 600 people and left thousands of people dead.
The US has urged Israel to focus on negotiations rather than escalating its war with Hezbollah, with growing concerns that a full-scale war between the long-time enemies could become a wider conflict that puts American forces in the Middle East at greater risk and destabilizes the volatile region.
“We have entered a new phase of the campaign,” said Major General Ori Gordin, the commander of the Israel Defense Forces in the north of the country, on Tuesday, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by the IDF. Clashes between the IDF and Hezbollah across Israel’s northern border with Lebanon have escalated since the US-designated terrorist group Hamas launched its massacre on October 7, leading to an ongoing massacre. war in Gaza ruled by Hamas.
“This operation began with a major blow to the forces of Hezbollah, focusing on their firefighting capabilities, and a major impact on the organization’s management and staff. As we face this, we need to change the security situation, and we must be fully prepared to guide and direct the action,” said Gordin, speaking to other officials. during his visit to the border region to observe the exams.
Handout/Israel Defense Forces
It is not clear whether Gordin was referring to the global offensive, which could see Israeli and Hezbollah forces go head-to-head in Lebanon for the first time in years.
Hours after he was released his words, this The IDF said two additional teams were sent to the north earlier, continuing to strengthen the ground forces located in the border area with Lebanon “to allow the continuation of efforts to fight Hezbollah, to protect the citizens of the State of Israel and to create conditions for the residents of the north to return to their homes safely.”
“Rise to reduce”
Briefing reporters on Tuesday, a senior official of the US State Department emphasized that the Biden administration is focused on finding a solution to the increase in speed, intensity and level of attacks between Hezbollah and Israel, in order to end “this cycle of strikes and contradictions.”
The official pointed out that the administration, based on the history of such tactics, was not convinced that Israel’s “collapse” approach could bring the desired results. In Israel, the long-declared mission is allowing tens of thousands of border residents to return to their homes after months of being driven out by Hezbollah’s relentless rocket fire.
Those rocket, drone and missile attacks – dozens of which the group launched this week, including what the IDF said was the first attempt to hit Tel Aviv with a ballistic missile on Tuesday – were unsuccessful. Many of the group’s weapons have been shot down by Israel’s anti-missile defense systems, and many remain in the open. A few people were injured as rockets and drones crashed, but the damage done by Israel on the other side of its northern border was comparatively heavy.
The heart of Beirut’s populous south – a stronghold of Hezbollah – was targeted by yet another airstrike on Tuesday, with the group later confirming Israel’s claim to have killed Ibrahim Qubaisi, who led its forces and missiles, in the strike.
Health officials in Lebanon said at least six people died in the explosion, and since the increase in airstrikes last week, the Ministry of Health in Lebanon reported that more than 610 people have died. It is not clear how many of the dead were Hezbollah fighters, but the group admitted that three more of its members died on Wednesday alone, after Qubaisi was killed.
Warnings of “endless war”
Israel launched its next wave of airstrikes after first striking Hezbollah last week pagers loaded with explosives and walkie talkies which was distributed to thousands of party members throughout Lebanon. Dozens were killed and thousands injured by the explosive devices, including many bystanders, according to Lebanese officials.
Tens of thousands of civilians have fled Israel’s bombardment of southern Lebanon, traveling along crowded highways to seek refuge in Beirut and beyond, many with no idea where they are going.
Israel says it only targeted Hezbollah’s military infrastructure and missile launch sites in the country.
Mohamed Azakir/Reuters
Hezbollah has vowed to continue firing weapons at Israel until its forces withdraw from Gaza, where its 11-month-old war with Hamas has continued in what the IDF has openly denied as a shift north. Israel has demanded that Hezbollah stop its rocket and drone attacks so that around 60,000 residents of northern Israel can return to their homes.
Some of them won’t have much of a home to return to, however. CBS News visited the town of Kiryat Bialik on Tuesday, where Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets and drones in recent days. Most were blocked by the country’s Iron Dome, but not all, and at least one home was left in ruins.
Tel Aviv was awakened again on Tuesday by the sound of sirens, as the Israeli army intercepted a missile from above – the first time Hezbollah has fired such a weapon at Israel’s largest city. It was a major surge for the Iran-backed group, which is much larger and better armed than its ally Hamas, but which has been heavily defeated by Israel, and is recovering from last week’s attacks inside Lebanon.
Despite calls from the US to scale back, and assertive statements from other Middle Eastern countries condemning Israel’s actions, attacks on both sides have continued to escalate.
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Iraq in a joint statement on Tuesday, after meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, that Israel is pushing the region into “endless war,” condemning what they called “Israeli aggression in Lebanon.”
The concern is that Hezbollah’s main benefactor Iran and Israel’s closest ally the US could both become directly involved in the conflict, triggering a regional war that many fear could become more out of control and more dangerous and destructive than the one currently underway in Gaza. .
contributed to this report.