War with Hezbollah
Unconfirmed reports have said that around 4,000 Hezbollah terrorists were injured with 400 in critical conditions and as many as 500 were blinded. The Washington Post reported that 37 people were killed and the hospitals in Lebanon were overwhelmed.
While Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, is is assumed this was a cunning and effective strike at the heart of Irans proxy terror group in retaliation for the persistent and ongoing rocket attacks against Israel.
On October 7 2023 following the Hamas terror attacks Israel declared war on Hamas on October 8. Hezbollah who operate out of Lebanon immediately joined the fight firing guided rockets and artillery shells into Northern Israel.
Since October 8, Hezbollah has fired over 8000 rockets killing 46 Israelis and wounding over 300. These rocket attacks have created wildfires that have burnt over 44,000 acres destroying native reserves, agricultural land and and forest plantations. Until now Israel has had limited engagement with Hezbollah largely through ongoing airstrikes on strategic targets, however with the war against Hamas and the strategic goals in Gaza almost complete, Israel’s attention is turning to the North.
Is a ground offensive imminent?
Earlier this week Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced that there will be a diversion of resources to the North in what would be a “new phase” of the war.
This is now taking place with a number of IDF battalions previously fighting in Gaza now relocating to the North of Israel in what would be expected to be a ground operation on Lebanese soil against what is now a severely weakened Hezbollah.
The IDF has reported that they have struck around 100 rocket launchers and infrastructure sites in the past 24 hours including weapons and materials being prepared for an imminent attack against Israel.
The question now is when Israel will go into Lebanon with infantry rather than if. The scope of the war is unknown at this point and will depend on other influences such as the international community and threats from Iran, although it seems that Iran does not want war with Israel at this time.
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