Israeli army invades southern Lebanon

The Israeli army on Tuesday launched a ground invasion in southern Lebanon, a move that it had been threatening for weeks. At around 2:00 a.m. local time, following approval by the security cabinet led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the start of “limited, localized and targeted ground raids” against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. “These targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” said the statement.

The invasion is accompanied by air and artillery fire. It is the “next phase of the war,” as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called it hours earlier. The Lebanese Armed Forces pulled back five kilometers from the border, while Israeli fighter planes bombed the southern suburbs of Beirut, after telling civilians to evacuate three areas “urgently.” The attacks could be heard and seen from all over the city after midnight.

The Israeli army, which had already informed its American counterparts during the day about the “imminence” of a ground invasion and intensive bombardment of towns such as Wazzani, Jiam and Marjayoun, is acting according to “a methodical plan” for which the soldiers have been “training and preparing” for months, it said in a statement.

From now on, Northern Arrows, the code name for the offensive that Israel launched on September 23 (the deadliest day in Lebanon since the end of the civil war in 1990, with more than 550 dead in just a few hours) will continue according to the analysis of the situation and in parallel with the fighting in Gaza and elsewhere, Israeli authorities said. Meanwhile, the United States said it will send thousands more soldiers to the region as a deterrent in defense of its ally.

In an exceptional move, the Israeli army has also declared the towns of Metula, Misgav Am and Kfar Giladi a “closed military zone” into which entry is strictly prohibited. For days the army has been massing troops on the border and carrying out small incursions onto Lebanese soil to reconnoiter the terrain. Last-minute diplomatic appeals to prevent the invasion have been in vain.

Israeli authorities have insisted that the strikes are “limited” and aimed at attacking the infrastructure of the Shia party-militia Hezbollah after two weeks of bombings that have left more than a thousand people dead and hit the center of the capital for the first time on Monday.

Hezbollah’s number two leader, Naim Qassem, had alluded to a possible invasion in the morning, in the first speech by a leader of the organization since the assassination of its top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on Friday. “If the enemy decides to enter by land, our forces are ready for battle. We are certain that Israel will not achieve its objectives […] We will win as we won in 2006,” he said, in reference to the conflict that elevated Hezbollah to legend status in the Arab world by holding off the vastly superior forces of Israel for 34 days and killing 121 of its soldiers.

Military pressure

Washington is trying to pressure Israel to scale back the operation and prevent it from spiraling out of control or turning into a prolonged occupation of southern Lebanon, like the one that lasted from 1982 to 2000 with the same official goal: to push the enemy, then the Palestine Liberation Organization militias, away from the border, a move that eventually gave birth to Hezbollah. But the U.S. government did not disavow the incursion.

U.S. President Joe Biden reiterated on Monday that a ceasefire would be the best solution to the crisis. Asked by reporters if he was comfortable with the possibility of an invasion, he replied: “I’m more aware than you might know, and I’m comfortable with them stopping. We should have a ceasefire now.”

As tensions continue to rise, the Pentagon has mobilized more forces in anticipation of a possible deployment, its spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said. Their mission will be to reinforce the 40,000 or so U.S. troops deployed in the Middle East at bases in countries such as Iraq, Syria, and Jordan. In addition, the U.S. has the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf of Oman, which has extended its mission in the area, while another aircraft carrier, the Harry Truman, left the U.S. naval base in Norfolk a week ago for the Mediterranean on a previously scheduled mission.

Washington is in constant contact with Israeli authorities and other Arab and European allies over this latest crisis, in which it has positioned itself on the side of its Israeli ally even more clearly than during the invasion of Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday during a State Department briefing that Washington will continue to work with its partners in the region and around the world to find a diplomatic solution.

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