As of: February 29, 2024, 4:31 p.m
By: Sarah El Sheimy
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The Israeli military announces harsh consequences for Hezbollah attacks.
The US government expects Israel to invade Lebanon.
Meron – The conflict between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Islamist Hezbollah continues to heat up.
On Tuesday, the militia attacked a military base in northern Israel.
According to the organization, this was the “air control base” Meron.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi responded during his visit to Israel's northern border with a warning: "On the evening of October 7, Hezbollah decided to join [the war] and for this it will have to pay a heavy price."
This emerges from a press release from the armed forces, in which Halevi further elaborates on the Israeli military's response: The enemy must be pushed back and a strong military presence must be established on the border with Lebanon.
He also emphasized the necessary protection of the local population and called for “air raid shelters and safe areas in houses and communities”.
The State of Israel will endeavor to enable people to live a safe life again.
Columns of smoke rise over Lebanon after Israeli air strikes.
© Taher Abu Hamdan/dpa
USA expects Israel to invade Lebanon
Meanwhile, according to a
CNN
report, there is growing concern in the United States that Israel could invade Lebanon in the spring if diplomatic efforts to push Hezbollah back from Israel's northern border fail.
“We expect an Israeli military operation to take place in the coming months,”
CNN
quoted a senior US government official as saying.
According to CNN,
the United States government is currently in talks with Lebanon and Israel.
The aim is to create a kind of buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
However, there are voices in the Israeli government that would support an invasion.
Any aggression could lead to a “major escalation,”
CNN
quoted another official as saying.
Israeli officials have also pointed out that a war with Hezbollah could be much more costly for Israel than a confrontation with Hamas.
Pro-Iranian Hezbollah fighters during a staged military exercise at a camp in Lebanon.
(Archive image) © Marwan Naamani/dpa
An anti-tank unit commander of the Islamist militia told the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese news channel
Al Mayadeen
that the group in Lebanon was made up of specialized divisions, each of which had its own combat system.
Hezbollah also has a new weapon.
This was developed after the fighters captured a “Spike” anti-tank weapon after the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from the Lebanon War in 2006 and sent it to Iran.
The gun is called “Almas”.
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Former intelligence officer: Hezbollah does not want to cross the “red line”.
However , former Israeli secret service employee Avi Melamed told
fr.de
from
IPPEN.MEDIA
that Hezbollah was acting cautiously overall, while Israeli forces and leading figures were “beating the war drums on the northern front”.
The militia does not want to cross a “red line” that could spark a full-scale war with Israel.
Melamed said the militia is cautious, especially given the losses it has already suffered in the current clashes with Israel.
Two of the group's fighters were killed in the IDF attack on Hezbollah targets near the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek.
The offensive preceded the counterattack on Meron.
(ses)