The Israeli army announced at night that it had begun a limited ground operation in Lebanon. According to Syria, Israel also carried out an airstrike in the Damascus area.
The attack of the Israeli army targets the villages near the Israeli border and the positions of the extremist organization Hezbollah located in them.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Security Cabinet approved the ground operation at its Monday evening meeting.
The operation is called Northern Arrows, and it continues at the same time as the war in Gaza. According to Israel, the goal of the operation is to secure Israel and enable people who fled northern Israel to return to their homes.
During the year, almost 60,000 people have fled northern Israel from the Hezbollah organization’s rocket and missile fire.
What is Israel attacking?
The Israeli army has not specifically listed the villages it will attack. According to the Reuters news agency, residents have reported combat operations in at least two villages located on the surface of the border, Ayta ash Shab and Rmaychi.
The Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh, located near Sidon, was hit by an airstrike at night.
The target was the news agency Reuters and an Israeli newspaper According to Haaretz commander of the Lebanese Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades living in a refugee camp, Mounir Maqdah. The organization is paramilitary and Western countries mostly classify it as a terrorist organization. Israel accuses Maqdah of supplying weapons from Iran, e.g. To the west bank.
According to Reuters, it was the first attack on Ain al-Hilweh during the nearly year-long crisis. Ain al-Hilweh camp is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. The camp, founded in 1948, is practically a city of more than 70 thousand inhabitants.
According to Syrian media, Israel also carried out a series of three airstrikes in the area of Damascus, the capital of Syria, during the night. The attacks would have killed three and injured nine people. The Israeli army does not comment on the attacks.
How will Israel’s supporter, the United States, react?
The United States has been unsuccessfully trying to broker a ceasefire in the fighting in Gaza for months. For that, the expansion of the war to Lebanon is not pleasant.
President of the United States Joe Biden expressed on Monday that he opposed Israel’s ground attack on Lebanon.
– I am more aware of the situation than perhaps you know. And I’d be happy if they stopped. We should get a ceasefire now, Biden told reporters when asked if he knew about Israel’s plans to launch a limited ground operation in Lebanon.
A few hours later, the US State Department announced that Israel had said it had started the operation.
However, the United States supports Israel’s right to defend itself.
The US Department of Defense announced on Monday that it will send a couple of thousand soldiers and F-15, F-16, A-10 and F-22 fighters to the Middle East.
According to the Pentagon, the purpose of the additional troops is to protect the US troops already in the area.
Why was the ground attack launched now?
Since the summer, Israel has already said that it is ready for a ground attack, because it is difficult otherwise to stop Hezbollah’s rocket fire into northern Israel.
Hezbollah launched the rocket attacks just one day after the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas. The organizations support each other and receive money and weapons from Iran.
The conflict escalated on September 17 when Israel blew up thousands of pagers belonging to Hezbollah members. The next day, hundreds of radio phones were blown up. In total, more than forty people died and three thousand were wounded.
Last Friday, Israel killed the longtime leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike.
Hezbollah has vowed revenge, but a large number of its commanders have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in recent months. However, there are reportedly 20,000 to 30,000 fighters in the ranks, with an additional 20,000 men in reserve.