Israel Plans Invasion of Lebanon Amid Escalating Tensions

The Israeli authorities are planning a potential invasion of Lebanon, despite the ongoing fighting in Gaza. According to media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not heeding the advice of the United States, which is urging caution.

Prayers Did Not Help

Israel’s Chief of General Staff, Herzi Halevi, has approved military plans for the northern direction, which could involve a land invasion of Lebanon. The elite 98th Division has been transferred to the Lebanese border from the Gaza Strip, where it has begun invasion simulation exercises.

Israeli warplanes have been circling over Beirut, highlighting the vulnerability of the capital. Rocket strikes have also been carried out on hundreds of Hezbollah targets. The Lebanese have promised to punish the attacker, with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah stating that they see this as a historic opportunity to face each other on the battlefield.

A Clockwork Gift

Before the missile attack, Lebanon was hit by explosions of pagers, walkie-talkies, smartphones, fingerprint devices, and other devices powered by solar panels and lithium-ion batteries. At least 20 people died and 4,300 were injured in the blasts.

Hezbollah is confident that the explosions were the work of the Mossad. In response, the group fired about 20 rockets from Katyusha launchers in Israel. Artillery positions in Kiryat Shmona were attacked, but there were no injuries.

There is No Turning Back

Israel has had plans to invade Lebanon for a long time, but it is not clear whether Tel Aviv is ready to implement them in practice. According to Irina Zviagelskaya, head of the Center for Oriental Studies at IMEMO of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the explosions of pagers and other electronic devices may be an attempt to demoralize Hezbollah’s armed forces and prepare the ground for a large-scale operation.

Semyon Bagdasarov, director of the Center for the Study of the Middle East and Central Asia, believes that Netanyahu has put everything on the line. “What doubt can there be of determination if they say it is time to attack? And in Gaza, he himself will not win, so he tries to seek happiness elsewhere to hide the previous failure. But ‘Hezbollah’ is able to resist much more fiercely than ‘Hamas’.”