The Israeli military warned Lebanese citizens on Monday to stay away from buildings used by the Shiite group Hezbollah to store weapons, as they will soon do. will launch a series of attacks in the country against militia targets.
“In the past few hours, we have detected plans by Hezbollah to attack the citizens of the State of Israel. The army began attacking an hour ago. In the near future, the army will attack terrorist targets in Lebanon to eliminate threats.”Chief military spokesman Daniel Hagari said at a news conference.
Israel launched a new campaign on Monday Intense bombardments against different areas of southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa ValleyHezbollah strongholds, amid growing tension following last week’s unprecedented attacks on Lebanese territory.
In his speech, Hagari detailed how fighters from the Shiite group, allied with Iran, prepared to launch a missile from a house, in which they had placed an opening for the launch. “In a precise attack, the army eliminated the terrorists and this missile launch infrastructure, shortly before the launch,” the spokesman said. An Israeli military official later explained to the press that the projectile in question was a Russian cruise missile, probably imported from Syria.
Israeli forces have accused the Lebanese group of turning southern Lebanon into a battlefield, using civilian infrastructure to store missiles, rockets and drones, and have said their attacks are aimed at “degrading” these capabilities. However, the country is focusing only on its air campaign, with no troop mobilization planned, a military source told reporters.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Sunday that the Shiite group Hezbollah is “beginning to feel” Israel’s offensive capabilities after a week of attacks in Lebanon that have claimed the lives of dozens of its fighters. The minister said Israel would continue its attacks until it manages to bring back to their homes the 60,000 residents of the north of the country evacuated due to the constant exchanges of fire, specifying that Israeli forces will do whatever is necessary to achieve this goal.
The situation is fear the outbreak of open war in the regiondespite Hezbollah acknowledging that it does not want to come to that and insisting that its attacks on northern Israel would cease if a ceasefire agreement was reached in Gaza.
