Israel‘s army chief has told his forces to prepare for a ground invasion of Lebanon as the Middle East spirals towards a seemingly inevitable wider war.
Herzi Halevi told soldiers during a drill near the Lebanese border in northern Israel: ‘We are attacking all day, both to prepare the ground for the possibility of your entry [into Lebanon], but also to continue striking Hezbollah.’
He added: ‘Hezbollah today expanded its [range] of fire. Later today, it will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves.’
An army chief told Israeli soldiers that strikes are paving the way for an impending ground invasion, adding ‘your boots… will enter enemy territory’.
‘You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day,’ General Herzi Halevi told troops on the border, according to a statement from the military.
The army said it was calling up ‘two reserve brigades for operational missions in the northern arena’, adding: ‘This will enable the continuation of combat against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation.’
Hezbollah said it had targeted Israel’s Mossad spy agency on Tel Aviv’s outskirts in the morning – the first time it has fired a ballistic missile in almost a year of cross-border clashes sparked by the Gaza war.
In response, Israel said it hit 60 Hezbollah intelligence sites, among hundreds of the group’s targets struck across Lebanon.