Israel Defense Forces Northern Command chief Maj.-Gen. Ori Gordin said on Wednesday that the army needs to be prepared for a potential ground invasion of Lebanon to remove the threat posed by Hezbollah.
“We need to change the security situation. We need to be very strongly prepared to enter (Lebanon) in a (ground) manoeuvre,” Gordin said.
“We have entered a new phase of the campaign, and we are now in Operation Northern Arrows,” he said during a visit with commanders and soldiers of the IDF’s 7th Brigade on the country’s northern border.
“The operation began with a significant blow to Hezbollah’s capabilities, focusing on their firepower capabilities, and a very significant hit on the organization’s commanders and operatives,” the military official added.
Also on Wednesday afternoon, the military announced it was deploying two additional reserve brigades, amounting to at least several thousand troops, for future “operational missions in the northern sector.”
“Their recruitment will allow the continuation of the war effort against the Hezbollah terror organization, the protection of the citizens of the State of Israel and the creation of the conditions for the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes,” the IDF said in a statement.
Jerusalem has escalated attacks on Hezbollah since adding the return of evacuated Israeli civilians to the north as an official war goal on Sept. 17.
Hezbollah has attacked Israel nearly daily since Oct. 8, firing thousands of rockets, missiles and drones. The attacks have killed more than 40 people and caused widespread damage. Tens of thousands of Israeli civilians remain internally displaced due to the ongoing violence.
Israel’s Security Cabinet, which is responsible for defence-related decisions and composed of senior ministers, was scheduled to meet on Wednesday night in the “pit,” the IDF’s underground command and control centre in the Kirya military headquarters in central Tel Aviv.
Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter jets continued to pound Hezbollah targets across Lebanon on Wednesday, with the IDF announcing it launched airstrikes in the areas of Nabatieh and the Beqaa deep inside Lebanese territory.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Israeli jets struck almost 300 infrastructures used by the terror group, the IDF said, adding that the IAF “continues its efforts to damage and degrade the military capabilities” of Hezbollah.
Among the targets were 60 sites belonging to Hezbollah’s intelligence division. “The strikes eliminated intelligence-gathering tools, command centres, and additional infrastructure used by the terrorist army to build an intelligence situational assessment,” according to the IDF.
Meanwhile, three Israelis were wounded, one seriously, on Wednesday when Hezbollah rockets scored direct hits in northern communities.
Earlier this week, the United States government voiced opposition to a ground manoeuvre in Lebanon to push Hezbollah away from the border.
“We obviously do not believe that a ground invasion of Lebanon is going to contribute to reducing tensions in the region, to preventing an escalatory spiral of violence,” a senior American official told AFP.
The U.S. official said the Biden administration was against Israeli soldiers crossing the border as Washington works on a diplomatic “off-ramp” to the escalating conflict between Jerusalem and Hezbollah.