Israeli forces will “take action very soon” near the country’s border with Lebanon, the country’s defense minister has told troops, as fears grow that clashes with Hezbollah could spiral into a full-scale regional war.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told troops near the border with the besieged Gaza Strip that others were being deployed to northern Israel “so that the forces are strengthened (there).”
He added that reservists would be released gradually “to prepare and be ready” for future operations.
Since the outbreak of the war between Hamas and Israel on October 7, there have been almost daily gun battles on the Lebanese-Israeli border between the Israeli army and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, an ally of Hamas.
It comes after reports that Israel is determined to prevent a repeat of the bloody invasion in the north of its territory, and that “Israeli doctrine is to take the war to the other side.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told troops near the border with the besieged Gaza Strip that others were being deployed to northern Israel
Israeli soldiers patrol an area near the northern kibbutz of Kfar Blum, close to the border with Lebanon, on January 25
Hezbollah today claimed responsibility for at least twelve attacks on Israeli army positions near the border using Iranian-made Falaq-1 and Burkan missiles.
Later in the day, the Israeli military said it was carrying out airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
“The targets included Hezbollah’s infrastructure and an observation post in the southern Lebanese areas of Markaba, Taybeh and Maroun al-Ras,” the army said in a statement.
The military also confirmed that several projectiles had been launched from Lebanon and said the forces “responded by targeting the launch sites and other locations in Lebanon.”
Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi said earlier this month that the risk of war on the northern border has become “much greater.”
‘I don’t know when the war in the north will take place. “I can tell you that it is much more likely to happen in the coming months than in the past,” Halevi said.
According to AFP figures, more than 200 people, most of whom are Hezbollah members, have been killed by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon since October 7.
Nine soldiers and six civilians were killed on the Israeli side of the border, according to Israeli officials.
Smoke rises after Israeli shelling on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila near the border with Israel on January 29, 2024
A view shows snow-covered trees and houses in Faraya, as seen from Kfardebian, Mount Lebanon
Financed by Iran, Hezbollah has built up its military strength over the years and built a huge arsenal of around 100,000 missiles.
Border tensions have increased in recent months, reviving memories of Hezbollah’s 2006 war with Israel, which killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, mostly soldiers.
The conflict ended thanks to a UN ceasefire resolution, which agreed that all forces, with the exception of UN peacekeepers and the official Lebanese army, would be moved north of the Litani River.
Search and rescue operations continue in the area in the town of Az Zawayda, Deir Al Balah, Gaza, following an Israeli airstrike on January 29, 2024
The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 26,000 people and destroyed large parts of the enclave, according to local health officials.
But instead, in the years that followed, Hezbollah remained in the south and built up its fortifications near the borders, claiming it provided protection against the Israeli threat. According to reports, Israel is now keen to push them back.
In Gaza, Gallant said today that Hamas is running out of supplies and ammunition, but that the war against Hamas “will last months.”
The prospect of a protracted war arises as Palestinians face a worsening humanitarian crisis, with funding cut off for UNWRA, which provides aid to around half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million residents.
More than 26,000 people were killed in Gaza’s Israeli assault, according to local health officials.
The conflict, which is more than a hundred days old, has destroyed large parts of the enclave and displaced almost 85 percent of the population.
The Hamas attack in southern Israel killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostage.