He Israeli army announced this Tuesday that it had mobilized a fourth division in Lebanese territory, deployed in the southwest of the country, on a day in which Hezbollah launched, shortly after noon, more than 130 rockets against the north of Israel in two consecutive volleys.
The 146th Armored Division is mandated to carry out “limited, localized and specific operational activities” in southern Lebanon, according to a military statement, and joins the 98th, 36th and 91st divisions, which already operate in the central and eastern areas. from the south of the country.
According to the newspaper The Times of Israelthe total number of soldiers deployed in Lebanon may now exceed 15,000, with these four divisions, in an operation that Israel continues to call “limited” despite having already ordered the evacuation of more than 130 Lebanese towns.
Yossi Kuperwasserretired brigadier general and former director general of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, estimated today in a press conference that, although Israel’s immediate objective is to destroy Hezbollah’s weapons and infrastructure, in addition to beheading the group, the Army is already working in two other military purposes.
“The second effort (of this war) is to prevent Hezbollah from rearming”explained Kuperwasser, who under that premise justified the bombing of border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, as well as maritime and air control.
The third point would consist of destroying the tunnels (which do not connect with Israeli territory) and fixed infrastructure on the southern border, according to Kuperwasser, used by the elite Radwan forces to arm themselves and take refuge after carrying out attacks.
Only with these three steps, the expert described, Israel will be closer to being able to return the 60,000 displaced people from the northern divide to their homes, after a year of clashes and two weeks of unprecedented escalation, which has left more than 2,000 dead in intense bombing.
Attacks against Israel
This Tuesday, Israel also detected the launch of some 135 rockets against the north of the country, 105 of them in two consecutive volleys around 12:40 local time (09:40 GMT) against the Galilee region and Haifa, the third largest city in the country.
Most of the projectiles were intercepted and only some fell in open areas, the Army reported. At least one 71-year-old woman was slightly injured by shrapnel in the arm. “We treated her at the scene and evacuated her to the hospital”detailed today a spokesperson for the Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA).
An hour earlier, another 25 rockets had been fired from the neighboring country against the northern region of Lower Galilee and the city of Tiberias.
“It’s a question of who is in charge at this moment,” Kuperwasser asks after the assassination on September 27 of Hezbollah’s top leader, Hasan Nasrallahand the disappearance after an attack last Friday of the person most likely to replace him, Hashem Safieddine.
“But it is a fact that someone is there,” continues the analyst. “We see that they still have the ability to send rockets and someone had to give the order to do it.”
One year ago today, Hezbollah opened fire on northern Israel in what they described as a gesture of solidarity with “the Palestinian people” following the start of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Stripwhich continues twelve months later with nearly 42,000 deaths.
“Yesterday we commemorated the day when the Israel Defense Forces learned an important lesson”The military spokesperson said today for the international press, Nadav Shoshanialluding to the first anniversary of the Hamas massacres of October 7.
«It is precisely because of that lesson that we are operating today in southern Lebanon. “We will not wait for the terrorists who want us dead to continue arming themselves and planning the annihilation of our civilians,” he added. EFE (I)
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