Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) may have begun or is about to begin small raids across the Lebanon border to take out nearby Hezbollah positions, United States media reported on September 29.
Two U.S. officials told ABC News that Israel does not appear to have decided whether to launch a full ground operation into Lebanon, but that it would likely be limited in scope if it does.
Referring to small-scale “border movements,” the report quoted the unnamed officials as saying that for Israel to fulfill its new war aim of enabling around 60,000 displaced northern residents to return home, decapitating the Hezbollah leadership will not be enough.
In order to achieve that goal, the IDF is damaging Hezbollah’s command and control, destroying its capabilities in the border area, and removing the threat of an invasion planned by the group’s Radwan Force.
From its side, The New York Times said that Israel has been working since the conclusion of the Second Lebanon War in 2006 to build up a formidable intelligence apparatus that deeply penetrated Hezbollah.
The report claimed that Israel has sent undercover commandos “deep into the country” to carry out “sensitive intelligence missions,” quoting unnamed officials as saying that the military’s willingness to carry out daring missions sets it apart from other countries’ intelligence agencies and units.
While Israel has not announced a ground incursion into Lebanon, there have been some reports of incidents across the border since last October when Hezbollah and its allies began launching attacks against the IDF in support of the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip.
The IDF escalated its strikes against Lebanon last week to a level not seen since the war of 2006. In response, Hezbollah expanded its attacks deep into northern Israel, hitting targets located more than 50 kilometers away from the Lebanese border.
While the Israeli leadership is yet to order a ground operation in Lebanon, the IDF has been preparing for such a move for a while.
On September 18, Hebrew media reported that the elite paratroopers and commando 98th Division was deployed to northern Israel. Later on September 25, the IDF announced that it was calling up two reserve brigades to be deployed on the front with Lebanon.
All in all, the confrontation between Hezbollah and IDF has so far resulted in 26 civilian deaths in Israel and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights as well as the deaths of at least 22 soldiers and security officers. On the Lebanese side, at least 1,640 people have been killed, including more than 500 members of Hezbollah.
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