Israel: We Are Preparing For War With Lebanon - If Necessary

The Israeli army is increasingly preparing for a decisive expansion of combat operations against the Shiite movement "Hezbollah" in Lebanon, DPA reported.

"Today we approved a set of plans for the future, we must be ready for an offensive if necessary," Israeli Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said yesterday during a visit to the military command in the northern Israeli city of Safed.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) "and in particular their Northern Command have been put on very high alert," he added.

The Israeli army has been fighting incessantly with Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon since militants from the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas attacked southern Israel's border areas from Gaza on October 7.

Yesterday, units of the Lebanese Shiite movement fired rockets at the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona; According to Israeli police, material damage was done to several buildings. No one was injured.

At the beginning of the war in Gaza, for security reasons, the authorities moved tens of thousands of residents of the northern region to the interior of Israel.

Yesterday, three people, including a Hezbollah fighter, were killed in Israeli attacks against positions of the Shiite movement in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese news agency NNA reported.

The fighting in this theater of war, which broke out in early October, represents the sharpest armed confrontation since the Second Lebanon War in 2006, DPA noted.

But according to observers, they still continue to be conducted within the boundaries of certain unspoken rules. Both sides have so far avoided a more serious escalation of tensions.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement virtually controls the government in Lebanon and has a missile arsenal that poses a threat to Israel.

In turn, the Jewish state is capable of inflicting enormous damage on Lebanon militarily.

In the Gaza Strip

Israel is expanding its operation against the Palestinian group "Hamas" in the central part of the Gaza Strip. Against the background of warnings from the United Nations about numerous victims and a severe humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory.

The Palestinian side has reported over 21,100 dead since the start of the Israeli operation in Gaza. It began in response to the terrorist attacks on October 7 with 1,200 casualties. Ground operations are carried over to the refugee camps in the central part of the enclave. Fierce fighting is also taking place in the north in Gaza City and in the south in the second largest city of Khan Younis. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said an unheard-of crime was being committed against Palestinians and warned that the situation in the West Bank was explosive and Gaza was "unrecognizable". According to the Hamas-led Ministry of Health, 195 people have died on the Palestinian side in the last 24 hours.

In a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated the need to achieve a lasting ceasefire in Gaza "with the help of all regional and international partners".

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