TOPSHOT – Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli air strike on Zibqin, southern Lebanon, June 12, 2024.
Kawnat Haju | Afp | Getty Images
The Israeli army authorized an offensive against Lebanon after a spike in cross-border fire as talk of a “total war” fueled concerns about the Gaza conflict spreading to the wider Middle East.
“Operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon have been approved and validated, and decisions have been made to further increase the readiness of troops on the ground,” Israel Defense Forces commanders said on Tuesday evening, without disclosing whether the initiative would involve mobilizing troops in the neighboring country.
Israel and Hezbollah, which controls much of Lebanon, have been engaged in a firefight since October alongside the Jewish nation’s war campaign against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Both Hamas and Hezbollah benefit from Iranian patronage, and the Lebanese group expresses solidarity with the plight of the Palestinian people – more than 37,000 people have been killed since the offensive began, according to the local health ministry.
Hostilities intensified after the IDF reported last week that an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese village of Jouaiyya killed a senior Hezbollah commander, Sami Taleb Abdullah, along with three other group operatives. Just on Wednesday morning, Hezbollah-allied news channel al-Manar TV reported that the group had launched a rocket attack on Israeli soldiers’ positions in Metula, Israel, according to a Google translation. CNBC could not independently confirm the report.
The IDF announcement came after Hezbollah released a nine-minute video that purportedly contained aerial footage from surveillance drones. The Lebanese group said the area revealed in the clips stretched across 6.5 square kilometers (2.5 square miles) of Israel and was 24 kilometers (nearly 15 miles) from Lebanon’s border with the Palestinian territories, claiming it was the Haifa harbor and military base and the Rafael military complex. CNBC was unable to verify this footage and has contacted the IDF about its authenticity.
The video sparked fear and anger in Israel, where Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav compared it to “psychological terror against the residents of Haifa and the north,” according to Reuters.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a social media update that his country is now “very close to the moment of deciding to change the rules against Hezbollah and Lebanon.” In an all-out war, Hezbollah would be destroyed and Lebanon would be hit hard. “
Katz acknowledged the likely toll on Israel, which is under pressure from the simultaneous battle against Hamas in the Gaza enclave and faces increasing international pressure to limit the number of Palestinian civilian casualties.
“The State of Israel will pay a price on the front and on the home front, but with a strong and united nation and the full power of the IDF, we will restore security for the residents of the north,” the foreign minister said.
“I remind you that, according to the United Nations, there is no territorial dispute – no territorial dispute – between Lebanon and Israel,” Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said during a news conference on Tuesday. “Whether diplomatically or militarily, one way or another, we will ensure the safe return of Israelis to their homes in northern Israel. This is not up for negotiation.”
Security concerns have driven thousands of Lebanese and Israeli civilians to flee their settlements near the border.
“A bigger war”
The two neighboring countries have been in a nominal UN-brokered ceasefire since a 34-day war in 2006. The US, linking Israel’s ties with Lebanon to the likelihood of a Gaza ceasefire, has sought to de-escalate hostilities. Senior US envoy Amos Hochstein met with Israeli and Lebanese leaders earlier this week.
“Let me be clear: the conflict along the Blue Line.” [of demarcation] “Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah are enough,” Hochstein said at a news conference on Tuesday during a visit to Beirut.
He stressed the White House’s ambitions to prevent the conflict from spilling over into a larger war, noting: “The conversations I had here in Beirut today and those I had in Israel yesterday are both being held because the situation is serious for us.” have experienced an escalation in the last few weeks, and what [U.S.] president [Joe] Biden wants to prevent further escalation into a larger war. That’s the effort here.”
Lebanon has since tried to distance itself from the hostilities.
“Lebanon is not seeking escalation. What is needed is to stop the ongoing Israeli aggression against Lebanon and return to calm and stability on the southern border,” Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said during his meeting with Hochstein, according to Google-translated comments published by his office.
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2024-06-19 09:06:14
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