Israeli army announces ground operation in southern Lebanon
The Israeli army says it has begun a “targeted and demarcated ground operation in southern Lebanon” against what it called Hezbollah targets. It said the operation is under way in several villages near the border and that Israeli warplanes are backing the ground troops.
Israeli military says ground offensive in Lebanon ‘limited, localised and targeted’
The Israeli army statement has actually shed some light on what’s been going on here. The Israelis say this is a “limited, localised and targeted” raid against Hezbollah terror targets in the border area of southern Lebanon.
What we’ve been hearing over the past few hours is intense shelling, air strikes and drone strikes.
Israel says operation ‘Northern Arrows’ coordinated between ground, air and artillery forces
The Israeli military says the ground operation into southern Lebanon is targeting “infrastructures of the terrorist organization Hezbollah” in Lebanese villages “which pose an immediate and real threat to Israeli settlements on the northern border”.
The military operation “Northern Arrows” involves ground forces supported by the air force and Israeli artillery, which have attacked targets “in a coordinated effort”, the military said in a statement.
Israel’s ‘limited’ ground offensive likely ‘difficult to maintain’ if Hezbollah fights incursion
That near-continuous shelling is still going on. The Israeli artillery, it is now clear, was to soften the ground – as it were – trying to get as many Hezbollah fighters away from their infrastructure and then destroy it.
This infrastructure is very close to the villages that Israel wants its residents to return to. However, if they get bogged down, if they get into a ground war with Hezbollah, then they’ll have to move forward. They’ll have to occupy more territory.
So a limited, localised offensive is going to be very difficult to maintain if Hezbollah decide to fight back.
