Israel has strengthened its military presence in Lebanon with a fourth division deployed in the southwest of the country. The army reported on Tuesday that the 146th Armored Division began conducting “limited, localized and specific operational activities” last Monday, joining three other divisions already operating in the central and eastern areas of the south of the country after the field. the invasion began eight days ago. The total number of soldiers now exceeds 15,000 throughout the country.
According to the newspaper The time of Israelthe total number of troops deployed in Lebanon could now exceed 15,000, in an operation that Israel continues to describe as “limited” despite having already ordered the evacuation of more than 130 Lebanese towns.
Yossi Kuperwasser, a retired brigadier general and former director general of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, told a news conference that while Israel’s immediate goal is to destroy Hezbollah’s weapons and infrastructure, in addition to decapitating the group, the army is already working in two other military objectives.
“The second effort (of this war) consists of prevent Hezbollah from rearming”detailed Kuperwasser, who justified with this premise the bombing of border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, as well as maritime and air control.
The third point would consist, according to Kuperwasser, in destroying the tunnels (which do not communicate with Israeli territory) and the fixed infrastructures on the southern border, used by Radwan’s elite forces to arm themselves and take refuge after having led attacks.
Israeli armed forces seized a combat compound of the Shiite group Hezbollah in Maroun al Ras, southern Lebanon.
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With just these three steps, the expert described, Israel will be closer be able to return home 60,000 displaced of the northern divide, after a year of clashes and two weeks of unprecedented escalation, which left more than 2,000 dead in intense bombings.
135 rockets against Israel
This Tuesday, Israel detected the launch of around 135 rockets against the north of the country, 105 of them in two consecutive volleys around noon against the region of Galilee and Haifathe third largest city in the country.
Most projectiles were intercepted and only a few fell in open areas. At least one 71-year-old woman was slightly injured by shrapnel in the arm. “We treated her on the spot and evacuated her to the hospital,” said a spokesperson for Israeli emergency services, Magen David Adom.
An hour before, 25 more rockets They had been fired from the neighboring country against the northern region of Lower Galilee and the city of Tiberias.
“The question is who is in charge at the moment,” asked Kuperwasser after the September 27 assassination of Hezbollah’s top leader. Hassan Nasrallahand the disappearance after an attack last Friday of the person most likely to replace him, Hachem Safieddine.
“But It is a fact that someone is“, continues the analyst. “We see that they still have the capacity to send rockets and someone had to give the order to do so.”
Exactly one year ago, October 8, 2023, Hezbollah opened fire on northern Israel in what they described as a gesture of solidarity with “the Palestinian people” after the start of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, which continues twelve months later with nearly 42,000 dead.
“Yesterday we commemorated the day the Israeli army learned an important lesson,” military spokesman Nadav Shoshani told the international press today, referring to the first anniversary of the Hamas massacres.
“It is precisely because of this 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 said. he added.
Hezbollah logistics chief dies
Israel again attacked the southern suburbs of Beirut overnight and claims to have killed a Hezbollah budget and logistics official, Suhail Hussein Husseiniin what would be the latest in a series of Israeli assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders and commanders.
Thus, many Israelis regained confidence in their armed forces and in their intelligence, so valued for so long, after violently striking the leaders of Hezbollah.
The situation in Lebanon is worsening by the day, as highlighted by the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, in the European Parliament, calling for a ceasefire. A situation which forced displace approximately 20% of the Lebanese population.
