Israel’s military announced today that it has completed a “new phase” in its preparations for “war” on the border with Lebanon, where deadly exchanges of fire with Hezbollah are intensifying.
In a statement entitled “Preparation for the transition from defense to offense”, which it published on its website, the army says that “in recent days it has completed a new phase in the preparation of the northern command of the war”.
These logistical measures “allow reserve forces to be mobilized immediately in the event of an emergency and to arrive at the front line in a short period of time with all the equipment required for combat,” the statement added.
The command, the army clarifies, is thus able to “call and equip all necessary soldiers within a few hours and transport them to the front line for defensive and offensive operations”.
Since the start of the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas on October 7, there have been daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and the pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah, which says it supports the Islamist Palestinian movement.
Israeli strikes were carried out at dawn today in eastern Lebanon, where Hezbollah has positions, a source close to this pro-Iranian formation announced, while the Israeli army announced that it acted in retaliation after an unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down on Lebanese soil.
At least 359 people, mostly Hezbollah fighters but including at least 70 civilians, have been killed in cross-border clashes in Lebanon for nearly six months and 18 people in Israel, ten soldiers and eight civilians, according to an AFP tally.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallad said today that the army “finished preparing to react to any scenario that could arise against Iran.”
Israeli Armed Forces Chief Herzi Halevi also said today that the Israeli military is capable of dealing with any Iranian threat.
“The Israel Defense Forces can control Iran,” Halevi said in a televised statement. “We can act decisively against Iran in places near and far. We are working with the United States and with strategic partners in the region,” Halevi said.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that it was “inevitable” that Iran would respond to the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which killed seven Iranian soldiers and was attributed to Israel.
According to the leader of the pro-Iranian party, the blow to the consulate is a “turning point” in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
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