The Israeli army launched this Tuesday the ground invasion in southern Lebanon that it had been threatening for weeks. At around 02:00 hours (01:00, in mainland Spain) and after its approval by the security cabinet led by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Armed Forces announced the start of “limited, localized and selective raids against Hezbollah terrorist targets in the border area of southern Lebanon” that “pose an immediate threat to localities in northern Israel.” The invasion is accompanied by aerial and artillery fire. It is the “next phase of the war,” as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called it hours before. The Lebanese Armed Forces have been withdrawing five kilometers from the border, while Israeli fighter jets also violently bombarded the southern suburb of Beirut, after informing civilians to leave three of its parts “urgently.” The attacks could be heard and seen from throughout the city after midnight.
The Israeli army – which had already communicated to its American counterparts during the day the “imminence” of a ground invasion and intense bombing of towns such as Wazzani, Khiam and Marjayoun – is acting according to “a methodical plan” for which the soldiers They have been “training and preparing” for months, he says in a statement.
From now on, Northern Arrows, the name of the offensive that Israel launched on the 23rd (the deadliest day in Lebanon since the end of the civil war in 1990, with more than 550 dead in a few hours) “will continue “according to the analysis of the situation and in parallel to the fighting in Gaza and in other areas.” The United States, for now, will send thousands more soldiers to the region as a deterrent in defense of its ally.
In an exceptional decision, the Israeli army has also declared the towns of Metula, Misgav Am and Kfar Giladi a “closed military zone”, where entry is “strictly prohibited”. He had been massively accumulating troops on the border for days and carrying out small raids on Lebanese soil to reconnoiter the terrain. Last-minute diplomatic appeals to prevent the invasion have been of no use.
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The Israeli authorities insisted on its “limited” nature, with the aim of attacking the infrastructure of the Shiite militia Hezbollah after two weeks of bombings that have left more than a thousand dead and reached the center of the capital for the first time this Monday. “We have been briefed on a number of operations, I have seen reports on ground operations. We’ve had some conversations with them about that. We’re told these are limited operations focused on Hezbollah infrastructure near the border. But we are in continuous conversations with them about the issue,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in his daily press conference on Monday.
He number two of Hezbollah, Naim Qasem, had referred in the morning to the then possible invasion, in the first speech by a leader of the organization since the assassination of its leader, Hasan Nasrallah, on Friday. “If the enemy decides to enter by land, our forces are prepared for battle. We are sure that Israel will not achieve its objectives […] “We will win like we won in 2006,” he said, referring to the conflict that elevated Hezbollah to a myth in the Arab world for holding its own against the much superior Israel for 34 days and killing 121 of its soldiers.
“Military pressure”
Washington is trying to pressure Israel to reduce the scope of the operation and prevent it from spiraling out of control or turning into a prolonged occupation of southern Lebanon, like the one that lasted between 1982 and 2000 with the same official objective: to remove the border to the enemy, then the militias of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and which ended up giving birth to Hezbollah. But it does not disavow the incursion. “Sometimes military pressure can support diplomacy. But military pressure can also lead to miscalculations and unintended consequences. “We are in talks with Israel about all of these factors right now,” Miller said.
The US president, Joe Biden, reiterated this Monday that a ceasefire would be the best solution to the crisis. Asked by reporters if he felt comfortable with the possibility of an invasion, he responded: “I’m more aware than you can imagine, and I’m comfortable with them stopping. We should have a ceasefire now.”
As tensions continue to rise, the Pentagon has mobilized more forces in anticipation of a possible deployment, said its spokeswoman, Sabrina Singh. They number in the thousands and cover a “wide range of capabilities and missions,” including fighter squadrons. Its mission will be to reinforce the nearly 40,000 soldiers that the United States has deployed in the Middle East, in bases in countries such as Iraq, Syria or Jordan. In addition, the United States has the aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Oman Abraham Lincolnwhich has extended its mission in the area, while another aircraft carrier, the Harry Truman, set sail from the US naval base in Norfolk a week ago to head to the Mediterranean, as part of a previously scheduled mission.
Washington maintains constant contact with the Israeli authorities and other Arab and European allies regarding the crisis, in which it has positioned itself on the side of its Israeli ally even more clearly than during the invasion of Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared this Monday, during a State Department conference, that Washington will continue to collaborate with its partners in the region and the rest of the world to achieve a diplomatic solution.
The United States and France proposed a 21-day truce last week that should open the door to a negotiation that would resolve the situation on the Blue Line, the demarcation between Israel and Lebanon. There, Israeli forces and Hezbollah have exchanged fire since the start of the war in Gaza almost a year ago and more than 160,000 people have had to flee their homes on both sides of the border. Netanyahu responded to the proposal last week with an incendiary speech at the United Nations General Assembly and with approval of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah. It was the zenith of 11 days of intense offensive, which began with the detonation of thousands of beepers and walkie talkies and that has left hundreds of thousands of people displaced. The bombings have claimed more than 120 lives in the last 24 hours, a figure similar to the daily deaths in Gaza.
The French Foreign Minister, Jean Noël Barrot, had made this Monday from Beirut a last appeal, as desperate as it was fruitless, to avoid the invasion. “I urge the parties to take advantage [la propuesta de alto el fuego] now […[…] This initiative is still on the table. There is still hope, but there is little time left,” he said at a press conference.
The Israeli Defense Minister was not the only one to speak on Monday of a “next phase” of the conflict, in a meeting with the mayors of the border towns in northern Israel, from which some 66,000 people have been evacuated. The army also reported that the head of the Northern Command of the Israeli army, Ori Gordin, had approved “the plans for the coming days” and that the 188 Brigade – which has fought for months in Gaza – had carried out “training near the border.” north”. Community defense units have recently simulated how to respond to an infiltration by Hezbollah militants, similar to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, or the massive shelling.
