Large Israeli military build-up on Lebanon border ordered to prepare for ground invasion of neighboring country
The international community has been facing the prelude to the third Lebanon war since last week. The far-right Netanyahu government has not only shown complete indifference to the pressures it receives for restraint and a peaceful resolution of the crisis that has caused the carnage in Gaza, but under the pretext of eliminating Hezbollah, it has escalated its attacks against Lebanon.
As Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to address the UN General Assembly in New York, reports revealed the massive military mobilization taking place in Israel during the week, with long convoys carrying tanks, weapons and soldiers to the border with Lebanon. At the same time, the Israeli air force carried out continuous strikes in southern Lebanon and Beirut against Hezbollah positions, infrastructure and personnel/executives, causing civilian casualties and a massive wave of displacement.
In fact, the leadership of the Israeli armed forces announced that it also hit the central “headquarters” of Hezbollah in the Dahige district of Beirut, which according to the Israelis was “hidden” under houses, reminding of the tactics they use in Gaza to justify mass attacks. massacres of civilians.
Officially the Northern Command of the Israeli Armed Forces (IDF) commands four divisions and several more brigades, which means we are talking about more than 100,000 soldiers. In recent months and especially in recent weeks, many brigades have been mobilized in northern Israel, while last week Northern Command commander Uri Gordin ordered two reserve brigades (around 5,000-6,000 soldiers each) considered highly combat-ready to begin preparations for invasion of Lebanon. At the same time, three other brigades that were deployed in Gaza were transferred to the north.
International reactions
At the same time, one after the other Israeli officials, including Netanyahu himself, clarified that the operations against Hezbollah that began with the double terrorist strike with those trapped with explosive buzzers and radios ten days ago – although no official claim of responsibility has been made – will continue in full force.
These positions, as well as the escalation of Israeli attacks that reached 1,600 strikes from last Thursday to last Friday, caused strong reactions. They brought the Franco-American proposal for a 21-day truce, but while Netanyahu initially accepted it, then rejected it and then… sold madness, claiming that Israel has common goals with it but not at this stage.
On the other side of the border there are reports of a large mobilization of forces to the front. Reports in the Middle East media indicate that at least 50,000 Hezbollah fighters have been deployed in southern Lebanon, while there have been reports of larger forces moving there from other countries as well. At the same time, Hezbollah not only continued to launch rockets and missiles against northern Israel, but also intensified its cross-border strikes.
Based on the above, there are not a few who argue that a ground invasion is expected to have huge costs for both Lebanon and Israel, since as they note the Israeli leadership does not seem to have any exit plan from this conflict.
The pretext
Wanting to lend a cloak of legitimacy to the escalation moves, the Israeli side began leaking to the Israeli media that the attack against Lebanon will not last long, since its aim is to enforce the decisions of UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the war in 2006 and called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters north of the Litani River.
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