Israel begins ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
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[October 01, 2024]
By JOSEF FEDERMAN, ABBY SEWELL and MATTHEW LEE
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli ground forces crossed into southern Lebanon
early Tuesday, marking a significant escalation of an offensive against
Hezbollah militants and opening a new front in a yearlong war against
its Iranian-backed adversaries.
The incursion follows weeks of heavy blows by Israel against Hezbollah —
including an airstrike that killed its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah
— and seeks to step up the pressure on the group, which began firing
rockets into northern Israel after the start of the war in Gaza. The
last time Israel and Hezbollah engaged in ground combat was a monthlong
war in 2006.
The Israeli military said in a brief statement that it began “limited,
localized and targeted ground raids” against Hezbollah targets in
southern Lebanon.
“These targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an
immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” it said.
There was no word on how long the operation would last, but the army
said soldiers had been training and preparing for the mission in recent
months. Israel has said it will continue to strike the group until it is
safe for displaced Israelis from border communities to return to their
homes.
Ahead of the Israeli announcement, United States officials said Israel
launched small ground raids inside Lebanon, and Israel declared three
small border communities to be a “closed military zone,” restricting
access only to army personnel.
There were no reports of direct clashes between Israeli troops and
Hezbollah militants. But throughout the evening, Israeli artillery units
pounded targets in southern Lebanon and the sounds of airstrikes were
heard throughout Beirut.
Smoke rose from the capital’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a
strong presence, shortly after Israel ordered residents of three
buildings to evacuate.
Israel launches risky phase of fighting
Israel has been emboldened by its recent battlefield gains against
Hezbollah and appears intent on delivering a knockout blow to its
archenemy. But a ground operation marks a new and potentially risky
phase of fighting. It also threatens to unleash further devastation on
Lebanon, where hundreds have been killed in recent Israeli strikes and
hundreds of thousands have been displaced.
Hezbollah is a well-trained militia, believed to have tens of thousands
of fighters and an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles. The last
round of fighting in 2006 ended in a stalemate.
Both sides have spent the past two decades preparing for their next
showdown. While Hezbollah has built up a formidable arsenal, Israel has
invested great sums into training and intelligence gathering.
Recent airstrikes wiping out most of Hezbollah’s top leadership and the
explosions of hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to
Hezbollah indicate that Israel has infiltrated deep inside the group's
upper echelons.
Hezbollah vowed Monday to keep fighting even after its recent losses.
The group’s acting leader, Naim Kassem, said in a televised statement
that Hezbollah would be ready for a ground operation. He said commanders
killed in recent weeks have already been replaced.
The man widely expected to take over the top post from Kassem is Hashem
Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah who oversees Hezbollah’s political
affairs.
Israel shifts attention from Gaza to Lebanon
Israeli strikes in recent weeks have hit what the military says are
thousands of militant targets across large parts of Lebanon. Over 1,000
people have been killed in Lebanon in the past two weeks, nearly a
quarter of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry.
Early Monday, an airstrike hit a residential building in central Beirut,
killing three Palestinian militants, as Israel appeared to send a
message that no part of Lebanon is out of bounds.
Israel declared war against the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip
after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed 1,200
Israelis and took 250 others hostage. More than 41,000 Palestinians have
been killed in Gaza, and just over half the dead have been women and
children, according to local health officials.
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Damaged apartments, right, are seen in a building that was hit by
Israeli strike, in Beirut, Lebanon, early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024.
(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8 in solidarity
with the Palestinian militant group.
Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost every day since
then, coming close to a full-fledged war on several occasions but
stepping back from the brink.
In recent weeks, Israel’s war against against Hamas has scaled back
and it turned its focus northward toward Lebanon, stepping up the
attacks on Hezbollah.
Israeli leaders say they want Hezbollah to implement the U.S.
resolution that ended the 2006 war, which required the group to
withdraw some 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the Israeli border.
Key setbacks for Hezbollah
Hezbollah has suffered key setbacks in recent weeks. Before
Nasrallah’s assassination, a series of mysterious explosions of
pagers and walkie-talkies blamed on Israel killed or wounded
hundreds of people, many of them Hezbollah members. And Israeli
airstrikes have killed most of the group’s senior commanders.
But Hezbollah continued to launch rockets and missiles into Israel
and is still believed to have thousands of fighters near the Israeli
border.
Israeli leaders for years have accused Hezbollah of hiding weapons
and fighters inside homes and other civilian structures in border
villages. Tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians have fled southern
Lebanon in recent weeks fearing an Israeli military onslaught.
Hezbollah has few air defenses, giving the Israeli air force freedom
of action over Lebanon’s skies. But a ground operation will be much
more challenging, with Hezbollah forces embedded and hiding in local
communities and familiar with the local terrain.
Still, Hezbollah’s capabilities are unclear. It’s possible Hezbollah
is holding back to save resources for a bigger battle. But the
militant group might also be in disarray after Israeli intelligence
apparently penetrated its highest levels.
Some European countries began pulling their diplomats and citizens
out of Lebanon on Monday. Germany sent a military plane to evacuate
diplomats’ relatives and others. Bulgaria sent a government jet to
get the first group of its citizens out.
Israel has a long and bloody history in Lebanon. It briefly invaded
in 1978 in a strike against Palestinian militants. It invaded again
in 1982 in an operation that turned into an 18-year occupation of
southern Lebanon.
The stepped-up action against Hezbollah also could raise the risk of
a broader region-wide war as Israel confronts a series of foes
backed by archenemy Iran.
Israel carried out an airstrike in Yemen against the Houthi militia
in response to a series of missile strikes. Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu has also threatened Iran, warning the Tehran
government that Israel is capable of striking anywhere in the Middle
East.
The United States and its allies — including France, which has close
ties to Lebanon — have called for a cease-fire, hoping to avoid
further escalation that could draw in Iran and set off a wider war.
But Netanyahu has shown little interest, as his country racks up
military achievements against a longtime foe.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, visiting Beirut on Monday,
urged Israel to refrain from a ground offensive. He also called on
Hezbollah to stop firing on Israel, saying the group “bears heavy
responsibility in the current situation, given its choice to enter
the conflict.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, speaking after meeting with
Barrot, said the country is committed to an immediate cease-fire
followed by the deployment of Lebanese troops in the south, in
keeping with a United Nations Security Council resolution that ended
the 2006 war but was never fully implemented.
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Sewell reported from Beirut and Lee reported from Washington.
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