Can Israeli Troops Invade Lebanon?

𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 the 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗻.

Israel has informed Washington it will launch an imminent limited ground operation in Lebanon. But this is hard to believe on the ground level.

Israeli troops have been waiting to enter southern Lebanon soon after 23 September, 2024 when their warplanes started to bomb the southern part of the country and the southern district of Beirut that is deemed to be a Hezbollah stronghold.

Although, its troop divisions and military brigades switched to the north of Israel from Gaza, there are still standing on the border with Lebanon, meeting stiff resistance from Hezbollah fighters with skirmishes quite often described as heavy.

According to reports that whilst Israeli troops may have moved one or two kilometers inside the Lebanese borders from the south and the east, they couldn’t hold their positions and were soon pushed back.

These limited Israeli incursions have been continuing on a daily basis but with not much success.

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Israel Bombs Lebanese Town With Banned Munitions

The Israeli army shelled the southern Lebanese town of Kafr Shuba with internationally banned phosphorus munitions, Lebanon’s state news agency reported on Sunday.

No information was provided about damage or injuries.

The state-run National News Agency also said that Israeli forces shelled the nearby town of Al-Qantara.

Israeli warplanes also staged fresh airstrikes in the southern suburb of Beirut, including Haret Hreik, a Hezbollah stronghold according to Anadolu.

Separately, Hezbollah said that its fighters targeted with rockets Israeli troop deployments in the Misgav Am settlement in northern Israel and the Ma’ale Golani barracks in Syria’s occupied Golan Heights.

Israel has mounted a huge air campaign in Lebanon since late last month against what it claims are Hezbollah targets, killing over 1,500 people and displacing more than 1.34 million others. Cross-border warfare between the two sides continued since the Gaza war last October.

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Naim Qassem: Hezbollah ‘Regains Health’, Seeks to ‘Hurt’ The Enemy

Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem said that the party is still strong despite the severe blows it suffered. He added it regained its wellbeing in the field and its capabilities, stressing the party set upon, a week ago, to implement a “new equation” to “hurt the enemy.”

He added, his 3rd speech since the assassination Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, the resistance’s missiles reached Tel Aviv, disabled Ben Gurion Airport, and forced two million Israelis to take shelters.

He pointed out the party can target any point in the “Israeli entity” and will choose the appropriate point according to his expression.

He stressed that what the resistance achieved in the field in two weeks was better than expected, and its main mission remains to “pursue the enemy and carry out operations against it in any place it enters.”

He also sent a message to the Israeli home front, stressing the only solution is for a ceasefire, adding, “I say to Israelis, do not believe what your officials tell you but look at your dead in the war.”

Ceasefire

He stated Hezbollah called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to stop firing on Israel. This solution is an expression of “a position of weakness”, but if the Israelis do not want this, we will continue.”

He pointed out that after the ceasefire “according to an indirect agreement”, Israeli settlers will be able to return to the north and other steps will be determined after that, the nature of which he did not specify.

However, he warned if the war continues, “the uninhabited settlements in the north will increase and more than two million Israelis will be in danger.”

Al-Aqsa Flood

Qassem pointed out, in his speech, that the “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack came after 75 years of occupation and is a “legitimate right” for the Palestinians.

He added, “the Palestinians have the right for such action to expel the occupation, shakes its presence and prevent it from continuing,” stressing “our support for the Palestinians is support for their right because they are the owners of the right, and must repel the danger from them and prevent the expansion of Israel.”

He also reiterated “Israel is an occupying usurping entity that poses a danger to the region and the world.”

He added, “Israel and those behind it are fighting and committing massacres, and we are in a situation that requires us to take a position,” noting that neither Lebanon nor the entire region can be separated from Palestine.

Expansionist Project

Qassem also stressed that Lebanon falls within an “Israeli expansionist project,” warning that Lebanon and the entire region “are facing the danger of a new Middle East designed in Israeli-American form.”

He added that Israel’s project in the region is “destructive and aim to eliminate the resistance and its people,” and that the world, Britain, France, and America are complicit with this “Israeli criminality.”

Resistance and Iran

Qassem stressed Iran supports the Palestinians in order to liberate Palestine, and this support is “a source of pride for Iran, which is exerting all its capabilities to strengthen and empower the Palestinians.”

He also mentioned that resistance to Israel is “legitimate and defensive” and its goal is to reject the occupation and liberate the land.

He added, “I say to the Mujahideen, you are the hope, so continue fighting and our confidence in you is great.”

A message to the Lebanese

Qassem stressed that the “Lebanese national solidarity” with the resistance is essential and that Hezbollah will remain despite its haters.

He added, “I say to the Lebanese, we must be patient to achieve victory and I promise you to return to your homes that will be rebuilt.. We will not leave you and you will not leave us and everyone will see the resistance with its great people.”

He also stressed that those who cause harm to Lebanon “are not those who defend people but those who kill them,” recalling that the Israeli occupation remained in Lebanon for 22 years and only left through resistance according to Al Jazeera.

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Israeli Media: We Are Waging a ‘War of Brains’ With Hezbollah

Israeli media revealed new details about the circumstances of the attack that targeted a military building in the Binyamina area south of Haifa. Israeli military analysts and experts said the incident casts doubt on the ability to intercept Hezbollah drones, and that the army is waging a war of brains with Hezbollah.

Military affairs correspondent Itai Blumenthal of Channel 11 said that the two drones that targeted the building in the base arrived via the northern maritime zone, where one of them was intercepted near the city of Nahariya, while the other disappeared from the field of view of Israeli fighters and helicopters just before hitting the building.

Blumenthal confirmed that the drone did not fire missiles, noting that this type of drone is known to the Israeli army and is manufactured in Iran and is available to Hezbollah, which raises further questions about the army’s ability to effectively detect these drones in the current war.

In the same context Nir Dvori, military analyst for Channel 12 said that this incident caused great disappointment, especially since the recent period witnessed some progress in the army’s ability to intercept drones. He added this incident completely turned the picture upside down, and revealed the gaps in the Israeli defense system.

A war of brains

Dvori explained this war of brains is witnessing a continuous development of capabilities on both sides. He added the Israeli army is working to improve its interception capabilities, while Hezbollah continues to develop the low-flying and high-speed techniques of its drones, which makes it more difficult to detect and shoot them down.

For his part Eitan Ben Eliyahu, former commander of the Israeli Air Force, confirmed that there is a war of minds taking place in real time between Hezbollah drone operators and soldiers operating Israeli detection and interception systems.

He described this battle as similar to a computer game, with each side trying to outdo the other in real time.

Yossi Yehoshua, a military affairs analyst for Channel 24 and Yedioth Ahronoth, pointed out that last deadly incident added to a series of injuries sustained by Israeli soldiers in the past two weeks since the start of the ground operations in Lebanon.

He said hundreds of soldiers were injured as a result of the use of anti-tank missiles, mortar shells, and drones by Hezbollah.

A surprise attack on the Golani Brigade training camp, located about 80 kilometers deep in southern Lebanon, Sunday, resulted in the killing of four soldiers and the wounding of 67, including eight in critical condition. The Israeli Army Radio described this attack as the deadliest incident against the army since the start of the current war.

Israeli media reported at the time that the drone fired a missile at the training camp, before crashing into the dining hall inside the camp, where soldiers were eating according to Al Jazeera.

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Sirens Blast All Day in Israel

Sirens blasted all over north and central Israel, all day Monday, creating much havoc with people running up-and-down ready-made shelters.

In total sirens sounded in more than 194 towns, cities and locations in Israel with graphic posts of the sound blasts as the army reported that up to two million Israelis went down to shelters.

It started since early morning with the social media counting the number of sirens that went off registering first at 122, 182 and the latest being 194 and even 200.

In one case, videoclips showed Ben Gurion Airport; there, and at one point, flights were suspended and were not allowed to land. It was reported by Israel’s Channel 12 that one El Al flight had to quickly divert and continued circling over the Dead Sea.  

And there was another videoclip of passengers on one plane huddling between the seats and the isles while the siren blast outside on the runway.

These siren blasts went off as Hezbollah rockets came in batches on different locations in Israel and at different times.

However big sirens blasts went off with warnings that ballistic missiles were being fired at the Tel Aviv area coming from Lebanon.

Everyone, Tuesday, is covering the missiles starting first with Israeli newspapers and websites like Walla which has been on the lookout to warn Israelis.

Missiles landing on Israel has never stopped since 23 September when Israeli warplanes begun to pound southern Lebanon up to the southern district of Beirut, seen as an Hezbollah stronghold and occasionally on the north of Lebanon.

Here, Tuesday, for example, Israeli warplanes bombed a building that was sheltering displaced people from the Christian village of Aitou were 18 people were killed.

Since the war on Lebanon where 1.2 million people have been displaced Hezbollah adopted a tit-for-tat strategy of “if you bomb us we will bomb you.”

The sirens and rockets have never stopped since Sunday night, reaching a new height when a squadron of missiles and drones landed on Haifa, including a military base south of the city in Binyamina where at least four were killed and 67 soldiers were injured according to Israeli army sources.

Today the number of missiles that have landed on Israel from across the border are register between 100 to 200 per day. It is estimated that 10,000 rockets and missiles were fired on Israel since 7 October, 2023 but the number could be much higher.

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