Yedioth Ahronoth reported, citing journalist Itamar Eichner, that Israeli security assessments expect the pace of military operations in Lebanon to escalate soon, with the primary focus currently remaining on Iran.
According to these assessments, Hezbollah may be subjected to “harsh strikes” that Israel claims it has refrained from launching so far, as part of an operation described as “extremely powerful,” aimed at causing significant damage to its capabilities to launch rockets and missiles.
The sources explained that the goal is not to completely eliminate the missiles, but rather to achieve a noticeable decline that would force the party to withdraw beyond the Litani River.
In the same context, the newspaper quoted a political source as saying that the war with Iran is expected to continue for additional weeks, noting that estimates speak of an extension of no less than another two weeks.
These Israeli assessments come in light of the gradual escalation that the Lebanese front has witnessed for weeks, coinciding with the expansion of the scope of the confrontation between Israel and Iran. Hezbollah intensified its field operations, announcing the targeting of Israeli military sites in the Galilee and northern occupied Palestine, in addition to striking vehicles and tanks on the southern border, as part of what it called a response to Israeli attacks.
On the other hand, the Israeli army continued to carry out air strikes and artillery shelling targeting border areas in the south, while expanding the range of targets to include infrastructure and sites suspected of being linked to the party’s missile capabilities. Intense military aircraft flights were also observed in the airspace of Beirut and the Bekaa regions, in clear signs of escalation.
This was accompanied by repeated Israeli statements linking the confrontation with Iran and the Lebanese front, considering that what is happening constitutes an interconnected “single arena,” and that any development in the regional confrontation will be directly reflected in southern Lebanon.
