The Israeli army announced that it had launched ground operations in southern Lebanon overnight from Monday to Tuesday. A “larger maneuver” is planned for the day according to the IDF.
The Israeli army officially announced this Tuesday, October 1, that its forces “began limited, localized and targeted ground raids a few hours ago […] against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructures in southern Lebanon”. The first land incursions, mentioned for several days by Israel, finally took place during the night of Monday to Tuesday.
These operations target targets “located in villages near the border” and which “pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” the IDF added in a statement. She also warns that a “larger maneuver” will take place in South Lebanon this Tuesday, October 1 after the “discreet operations” of the night. “Intense fighting” in southern Lebanon was already mentioned this Tuesday morning by the spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, in a message on X.
Lebanese media, notably the channel Al-Mayadeen known to be close to Hezbollah, claims to have no confirmation that Israeli troops crossed the border with Lebanon during the night. The pro-Iranian Islamist movement, however, indicates in a press release that it has twice targeted Israeli soldiers in Metula, in northern Israel, first with artillery then with rockets.
Two Israeli officials indicated, on condition of anonymity, to the American site Axios that the operation launched on the night of Monday to Tuesday was “not aimed at occupying southern Lebanon”. A position reaffirmed by the Israeli ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka, at the microphone of France Inter: “We do not intend to invade Lebanon. What we are trying to do is allow the return in our population who should be at home in the north of the country.” The diplomat adds that Israel has “tried many times to find a diplomatic situation” but believes that “diplomacy has failed so far and [qu’]we were forced to use force.”
The ground incursions in Lebanon appear to be a new phase in the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah, a pro-Iranian Islamist movement, which began around ten days ago with the intensification of airstrikes. The Jewish state justifies its operations by the desire to secure an entire strip in the north of Israel, on the border with Lebanon, to allow the return of more than 60,000 evacuated civilians. The same justification is put forward to explain terrestrial advances.
Israel’s American ally tried to dissuade the Jewish state from carrying out incursions into Lebanon according to information from New York Times. American diplomacy sees the night’s operations as the fruit of their efforts, recalling that Israel has carried out “limited” incursions along the border with Lebanon.