ALBAWABA - According to the news website Axios, which cited Israeli and American sources, Israel is getting ready for a massive ground operation in southern Lebanon with the goal of seizing the whole region south of the Litani River. The action could be the biggest ground invasion since the conflict in 2006.
Israel is getting ready to greatly extend its ground operation in order to capture the whole region south of the Litani River and destroy Hezbollah's military facilities there, officials informed the U.S. publication.
The Tayr Falsiyeh (Zrarieh) bridge, which crosses the Litani River in southern Lebanon and divides the country's southern and northern regions, was allegedly targeted by the Israeli army on Friday. Additionally, a massive reinforcement of soldiers in the northern area was requested by the military.
This kind of operation may be the biggest Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon since 2006, according to authorities, and it might pull Lebanon more into the intensifying Iranian crisis.
"We will do what we did in Gaza," a senior Israeli source told Axios, alluding to the demolition of structures that Israel says Hezbollah uses to store weapons and carry out assaults.
Such an operation, according to officials, may put Lebanon in the epicenter of the escalating regional conflict with Iran.
Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers close to the border in 2006, sparking a 33-day conflict between Israel and the group. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which called for a stop to hostilities and the deployment of the Lebanese army and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) south of the Litani River, put an end to the conflict.
According to the article, the Lebanese government voiced alarm about the implications of the worsening military situation and warned that fresh conflict, which it claims started after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel, might result in extensive damage throughout the nation.
