Israel yesterday ramped up its ground offensive against Hezbollah along Lebanon’s southern coast, deploying more troops and urging civilians near the Mediterranean to evacuate.
Iran-backed Hezbollah said it had fired rockets at the Israeli city of Haifa, after the Israeli military reported 85 projectiles crossing from Lebanon.
The latest escalation followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to fight a “sacred war” until Hezbollah and Hamas are defeated.
Photo: AFP
Israel expanded operations in Lebanon nearly a year after Hezbollah opened a front in support of its Palestinian ally, Hamas, following the deadliest attack in its history on Oct. 7 last year.
While battling Hamas in Gaza, Israel has vowed to secure its northern border with Lebanon to allow tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by Hezbollah’s cross-border fire to return home.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah have pledged no letup against Israel, and yesterday Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said the group would make it impossible for Israelis to return to the north.
Israel launched a wave of strikes against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon on Sept. 23, leaving at least 1,110 people dead since and forcing more than 1 million people to flee.
Israeli attacks have mainly targeted Hezbollah stronghold areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as south Beirut.
While the southern coast has not been spared, Israel’s latest evacuation warning suggests it is widening its offensive northward.
The Israeli military said its 146th Division began “limited, localized, targeted operational activities” against Hezbollah targets and infrastructure in southwestern Lebanon.
A day earlier, the military had warned people to stay away from the southern shore, with a spokesman saying Israel would “soon operate in the maritime area against Hezbollah’s terrorist activities” south of the al-Awali River.
In Sidon, fishers stayed ashore and the seafood market was unusually quiet.
“Fishing was the way we supported our children. If we don’t go out to sea, we won’t be able to feed ourselves,” fisher Issam Haboush said.
The Israeli military said it hit Hezbollah’s south Beirut bastion, where a strike last month killed the militant group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Qassem said that despite Israel’s “painful” strikes, the group’s leadership structure was in order and its military capabilities were “fine.”
He also said he supported the Lebanese government’s efforts to secure a ceasefire, while warning that Hezbollah would keep fighting.
“Netanyahu says he wants to bring back the displaced to their homes in northern Israel, [but] we say that many more residents will be forced to flee” their homes, he added.
The expansion in the fighting came a day after Israelis and people around the world marked a year since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
In a prerecorded television address, Netanyahu vowed not to give up on the “sacred mission” of achieving the war’s goals.
“As long as the enemy threatens our existence and the peace of our country, we will continue to fight. As long as our hostages are still in Gaza, we will continue to fight,” Netanyahu said.
Weakened, but not crushed after a year of war, Hamas was defiant, with Abu Obeida, spokesman for its armed wing, saying the group would “keep up the fight in a long war of attrition, one that is painful and costly for the enemy.”
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