Without prejudging the scope of Hezbollah’s military response, described in advance as ” awful “ On Thursday, September 19, by its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, following the wave of pager and walkie-talkie explosions on Tuesday and Wednesday – which left 37 dead and some 3,000 wounded mainly in the ranks of the Lebanese armed group, but also among the civilian population – Israel is preparing for the possibility of an open war in Lebanon.
From Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Israeli military leaders and officials are working out the terms of a directive that a high-intensity conflict with Hezbollah involving a ground operation in Lebanon is possible — and that nothing would be capable of triggering it. “Change could be rapid”Western diplomatic sources say. The day before, the Minister of Defence repeated that “the center of gravity [du conflit] moves north »with the consequence of dedicating “forces, resources and energy” used until now in the Gaza Strip.
On Thursday afternoon, at the end of a day marked by a series of air strikes against a hundred rocket launching points, the Minister of Defense assured that military operations would take place ” continue “In the previous days, maneuvers simulating an invasion of Lebanese territory had been carried out near the border, involving two brigades. In response, Hezbollah also stepped up its fire on Israel. Two Israeli soldiers were killed on Thursday.
“Refocus”
While a long series of shootings and attacks across the “blue line” (the UN-drawn border between Lebanon and Israel) set the two camps in a war of attrition following the attack on Hamas on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, preparations for an open conflict were carried out on the Israeli side during the summer and accelerated in September, particularly in terms of troop transfers. Monday, September 16, The world I met a paratrooper recently released from Gaza after months of operation. With other elements of the same brigade, the latter had taken a break in Jerusalem before heading north to Israel, towards their new cantonment near the border.
The army announced on Wednesday that it had transferred all 98my division – which includes the paratrooper brigade – in the north of the country. In total, observers estimate that three-quarters of the troops that Israel was to withdraw from Gaza and transfer to the north of the Jewish state, before being able to carry out an operation in Lebanon, would be deployed in the border area, or around it. At the same time, operations and air strikes continue in the Gaza Strip.
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