5/6/2024–|Last updated: 6/5/202402:36 PM (Mecca time)
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported – today, Wednesday – that the army is awaiting a decision from the government to make the confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon a “major battlefield” that includes a ground operation, and to turn the war on the Gaza Strip into a “secondary battleground.”
In this context, the Occupation Army Radio said that the government allowed the call-up of 50,000 additional reserve soldiers in preparation for the escalation on the Lebanon front.
In turn, Israeli Channel 14 said that the estimate in Israel is that a war with Hezbollah may break out in the coming weeks.
This comes at a time when northern Israel has been witnessing forest fires since Sunday caused by the fall of missiles and drones launched by Hezbollah, as part of daily exchanges of bombing with the occupation army since last October 8.
According to the broadcasting organization, “The security establishment and the army’s senior leadership believe that the political level (the government) must now take a decision to change the unbearable reality in the border areas of northern Israel.”
She explained, “This means turning the northern front into the main confrontation arena, while the Gaza Strip becomes a secondary battlefield, at a time when 124 (Israeli) kidnappers are still being held by Hamas between the living and the dead.”
High cost
According to the broadcasting authority, the Israeli military command continues to “prepare for a large-scale war that includes a ground operation to clear the area on the other side of the border,” in reference to Hezbollah members and weapons. Israel has occupied Lebanese lands in the south for decades.
The commission continued, “This activity could cost us the lives of soldiers, but without a large-scale movement on the Lebanese border, tens of thousands of residents who were evacuated (last October) will not be able to return to their homes” in the towns of northern Israel.
She added, “The security leadership does not set necessary dates for this process, but one of the main considerations for setting the timetable is the opening of the next academic year at the beginning of next September.”
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation noted that the war council discussed yesterday evening “the nature of the response and possible methods of action after the heavy fire launched by Hezbollah on the Israeli areas adjacent to the northern border.”
The Commission stressed that “there is a belief in Israel that the chances of reaching an agreement with Lebanon are slim.”
‘Very powerful’ process
In the same context, Israeli Channel 12 quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying that they are ready for a very strong operation in the north.
Netanyahu said, “Whoever thinks he can harm us and that we will stand idly by is making a grave mistake. We are ready to take very strong action in the north. One way or another we will restore security to the north.”
For his part, Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy said that Israel is approaching the point where a decision must be made in the north, and that the army is ready and willing to attack.
Halevy added – during an assessment tour on the northern border – that Hezbollah has escalated the intensity of its attacks against Israel in recent days, and that the army is ready to move from a state of defense to attack.
Hezbollah threatens
On the other hand, Sheikh Naim Qassem, Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah, told Tel Aviv Tribune that his party is ready to go to war with Israel if it wants to wage a comprehensive war on Lebanon.
Qassem added that any Israeli expansion in the war on Lebanon will be met with devastation, destruction and displacement in Israel.
On the ground, the Israeli army announced that its fighters bombed Hezbollah targets in 5 different regions of Lebanon during the night hours.
The army spokesman said that Air Force fighters raided two platforms belonging to the party in the areas of Zabqin and Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon, and at the same time targeted 3 military buildings of the party in the areas of Al-Adisa, Blida and Markaba in southern Lebanon.
On the other hand, Tel Aviv Tribune’s correspondent reported that Israeli aircraft launched raids on the towns of Al-Adisa, Aita Al-Shaab, Al-Naqoura, Kafr Kila, Hula, and Zibqin.
Hezbollah announced that it attacked a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Birkat Risha site, and bombarded with artillery a group of soldiers at the Al-Malikiyah site.
The Lebanese party had carried out 10 operations off the southern border and in the occupied Syrian Golan.
He also said that he attacked with drones the Maale Golani barracks, and also targeted soldiers in the Natawa Horsh, the Baram Horsh, and the vicinity of the Tahihat triangle.
Israeli Army Radio reported that sirens sounded in Kiryat Shmona and Metulla, fearing enemy aircraft infiltration.
Hezbollah bombed the Liman Battalion Command and the sites of Ramtha, Zabdin, Naqoura al-Bahri, and Ramim Barracks, and mourned a fighter who died in the raid that targeted Naqoura.
Palestinian and Lebanese factions in Lebanon – including Hezbollah – exchange intermittent daily bombardment with the Israeli army across the dividing “Blue Line,” resulting in hundreds killed and wounded, most of them on the Lebanese side.
The factions say that they stand in solidarity with Gaza, which has been exposed to an Israeli war since October 7, 2023, that left more than 119,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and about 10,000 missing amid deadly famine and massive destruction.
