Israeli military hammers Lebanon in what appears to be a effort to make sure they do NOT allow Hezbollah to keep picking at Israel without suffering some ‘hurt.’..
They have gone on the Offence, attacking weapons locations IN Lebanon…
Hezbollah’s response to the Israeli mass attacks have been some small rocket attacks against the North of Israel….
World leaders arriving at the UN in New York are calling for a end to the situation…
Israel and Hezbohall don’t seem to be listening….
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 182 people were killed and more than 727 were wounded in Israeli strikes — making Monday the deadliest day in Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah began exchanging fire in October. Israel said it was conducting “extensive, precise” strikes against Hezbollah, including in the south and in Bekaa Valley in the east, and called for civilians to evacuate or move away from areas in which the militant group operates. Lebanon’s casualty count did not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but it said children, women and paramedics were among those wounded or killed. Hezbollah fired dozens of projectiles over the border Monday, as the exchanges threaten to erupt into a full-blown war….
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Casualties were reported in Lebanon’s south and northeast as the Israel Defense Forces said it struck 300 targets in Lebanon. Spokesman Daniel Hagari said it was carrying out “extensive, precise” strikes against Hezbollah targets throughout the country. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the IDF’s expanded attacks included Hezbollah targets “throughout the command chain … and in missile and rocket warehouses.”
The IDF said it detected about 25 projectiles crossing from Lebanon on Monday; Israeli paramedics said two people were injured.
Hagari called for civilians in Lebanon to evacuate or move away from areas in which the militant group operates and properties where it says weapons could be stored. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Hezbollah of using the homes of some residents to store missiles and other weapons.
Lebanon’s information minister, Ziad Makary, said in a statement Monday that a “large number” of people in Beirut and other areas were receiving messages on landlines that encouraged them to evacuate, which he characterized as a form of “psychological warfare.” The IDF also broadcast its message on Lebanese radio, according to Israel’s Channel 12….
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Is Israel over extending itself?
Israel’s deadly strikes and evacuation warnings in Lebanon on Monday showed its determination to break the resolve of Hezbollah and force the militia, which controls scores of villages across southern Lebanon, to stop its cross-border attacks on Israel.
The moves also reflected how far Israel is from achieving that goal — and how close both sides are to an all-out war.
Israeli officials had hoped that by scaling up their attacks over the past week — striking Hezbollah’s communications tools, and killing several key commanders as well as Lebanese civilians — they would unnerve the group and persuade it to withdraw from the Israel-Lebanon border. The officials believed that if they increased the cost of Hezbollah’s campaign, it would be easier for foreign diplomats, like Amos Hochstein, a senior United States envoy, to get the group to stand down.
For now, the opposite has happened. Despite days of escalatory attacks from Israel, Hezbollah has pledged not to buckle under the pressure.
The group’s leaders have said they will continue their attacks until a Gaza cease-fire is agreed to by Israel and Hamas, the militia’s ally. And on Sunday morning, Hezbollah fired dozens of missiles at targets roughly 30 miles inside Israel, its deepest strikes since the start of the war in October — which one of its top officials warned was “just the beginning.”
Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, has even dared Israel to invade southern Lebanon, a move that could just as plausibly lead to a protracted stalemate as an Israeli victory.
An invasion did not appear to be imminent on Monday, even as Israel intensified its strikes and warned civilians to evacuate villages where it said Hezbollah was storing weapons. Israel’s chief military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the current focus was on an aerial campaign, not a ground operation.
But if Israel runs short of other forms of military pressure, an invasion would be one of the few military options left to the country’s leadership.
The Israeli Army, though, is already stretched thin…
Sep 23, 2024 – ISW Press
Israel set new war objectives for Lebanon on September 16. Accomplishing these objectives would require the IDF to undertake a second major military campaign in Lebanon as part of the October 7 War.
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