American media revealed the existence of Israeli plans to launch a major ground attack in southern Lebanon, which reflects the escalation of military tension on the northern front in light of the continuing confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Axios website, quoting an Israeli official, reported that Tel Aviv is considering carrying out a large-scale military operation in southern Lebanon, stressing that the Israeli leadership believes that “there is no choice but to carry out a huge operation in the region.”
The official explained that the main goal of this operation is to remove Hezbollah from the border with Israel, in an attempt to change the current security situation on the northern front.
In a worrying statement, the Israeli official said that Israel might “do to Lebanon what it did to Gaza,” referring to the extensive military operations launched by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip during the past months.
These statements come at a time when numerous reports indicate that Israel has strengthened its military presence on the border with Lebanon, as it has sent additional combat units to the region over the past few days.
Israeli reports had indicated the transfer of the 98th Division, known as the “Commando Division,” to the northern front, in addition to the deployment of the Paratroopers Brigade and the Nahal Brigade to reinforce the forces stationed on the border.
Israel had previously deployed the 36th Armored Division and the 146th Division in the border area, in a move aimed at raising the level of preparedness to carry out possible military operations inside Lebanese territory.
For weeks, the Lebanese front has witnessed a continuous military escalation with the exchange of bombing and raids between Israel and Hezbollah, coinciding with the expansion of the scope of military operations in the region.
Israeli warplanes carried out repeated raids on the towns of the south, the Bekaa, and the southern suburbs of Beirut, while Hezbollah announced the implementation of missile and drone attacks targeting Israeli sites.
In light of this escalation, fears are increasing that the scope of the war will expand into a large ground confrontation on the Lebanese border, especially with talk of Israeli plans to carry out a major military operation aimed at changing the military equation in southern Lebanon.
