Sovereignty as a fig leaf
Nga Namir Lapardhaja
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"We will act like in Gaza"/ Media: Israel is planning a ground invasion in Lebanon to remove Hezbollah
2026-03-14 21:13:48 / BOTA
Israel is planning to launch a "massive" ground invasion of southern Lebanon aimed at driving the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group from the border and destroying its weapons depots and positions, US and Israeli officials told the Axios news website on Saturday.
The report said the Israeli plan aims to occupy the entire area south of the Litani River that divides Lebanon from east to west, and that the operation became inevitable after the terrorist group launched a large-scale rocket attack on northern Israel on Wednesday.
This also comes after Hezbollah's leader said his group was ready for a long confrontation with Israel.
"We will do what we did in Gaza," a senior Israeli official told Axios, referring to the destruction of buildings and tunnels that Hezbollah uses to store its weapons and launch attacks.
"The goal is to take territory, push Hezbollah forces north and away from the border, and dismantle its military positions and weapons depots in the villages," the official said, adding that Israel had mainly tried to contain the situation in Lebanon and focus on Iran, but that had changed after the terrorist group launched more than 200 rockets into northern Israel on Wednesday in a coordinated attack with Iran, which fired rockets at the same time.
"Before this attack we were ready for a ceasefire in Lebanon, but after it there is no turning back from a massive operation," a senior Israeli official told the site.
On Friday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, following a new assessment, ordered a “broad reinforcement” of troops in the Northern Command, “as part of strengthening readiness for various offensive and defensive scenarios,” the military said in a statement.
The military said the deployment will include forces from the regular army, including the 98th Division, with two brigade-level combat teams and combat engineer battalions.
Reserve forces from the 252nd Division will be mobilized and deployed to the Gaza Strip to replace permanent army units being sent to the Northern Command. In the Central Command, the IDF will also extend the duty time of several reserve battalions.
The IDF has also called on thousands of civilians in southern Lebanon to evacuate to safer areas.
This would not be Israel's first attempt to push Hezbollah away from the border. During the conflict that followed the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, Israeli forces destroyed large parts of several villages in border areas where Hezbollah had built tunnels and fortifications ahead of a plan to attack Israel in an act similar to Hamas' invasion.
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