Jerusalem:
Israel’s army chief told soldiers on Wednesday to prepare for a possible ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, as the air force carried out hundreds of deadly strikes across the country.
“We are attacking all day long, both to prepare the ground for the possibility of your entry, but also to continue attacking Hezbollah,” Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi told a tank brigade, according to an army statement.
Lebanon’s health minister said Wednesday’s attacks killed 51 people and injured 223, including in mountainous areas outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds.
Hezbollah said it targeted Israel’s Mossad spy agency on the outskirts of Tel Aviv this morning – the first time it has fired a ballistic missile in nearly a year of cross-border clashes sparked by the Gaza war.
In response, Israel said it had struck 60 Hezbollah intelligence sites, among hundreds of the group’s targets hit across Lebanon.
It came amid escalating cross-border clashes after Israeli raids on Monday killed at least 558 people in the deadliest day of violence since Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.
Nour Hamad, a 22-year-old student from the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, described living “in a state of terror” all week.
“We’ve spent four or five days without sleep, not knowing if we’ll wake up tomorrow morning,” she said.
Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv after Hezbollah’s unprecedented rocket launch.
Tel Aviv resident Hedva Fadlon, 61, told AFP: “The situation is difficult. We feel the pressure and tension… I don’t think anyone in the world would want to live like this.”
Israel calls up reservists
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Hezbollah’s attack on Tel Aviv was “deeply concerning” but added that there is “still time and room here for a diplomatic solution to de-escalate tensions and to prevent all-out war.”
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that “more than 280 Hezbollah targets” had been hit across Lebanon, adding that the attacks were ongoing.
“Jet fighters struck 60 terrorist targets of Hezbollah’s intelligence directorate,” the army said.
It also said two reserve brigades were being called up “for operational missions in the northern arena”, adding that this would “enable the continuation of the fight against the terrorist organization Hezbollah”.
The United Nations Security Council said it would hold an emergency meeting on the crisis in New York on Wednesday, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the situation was critical.
– Missile commander killed –
The UN’s International Organization for Migration said on Wednesday that 90,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Monday.
Among them, “many of the more than 111,000 people displaced since October are likely to be secondarily displaced,” according to a statement from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
It came after two days of what the Israeli military called “extensive” attacks on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.
The Lebanese group on Tuesday confirmed an Israeli claim that it had killed their missile commander Ibrahim Kobeissi during an attack on the Lebanese capital.
At the UN General Assembly in New York, Secretary General Guterres issued a stark warning.
“We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is on the brink,” he said, warning of “the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza.”
US President Joe Biden, whose administration is Israel’s main backer, said “all-out war is not in anyone’s interest.”
Rebellious Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed his departure to New York until Thursday, where he will also speak at the General Assembly.
“During the day, the prime minister will hold consultations to discuss the continuation of attacks in Lebanon,” his office said.
Netanyahu defied international calls for restraint and vowed on Tuesday to continue Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah.
“We will continue to attack Hezbollah… the one who has a rocket in his living room and a rocket in his house will not have a house,” he said.
Iran, Hezbollah’s main backer, condemned Israel’s raids, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying the recent killing of Hezbollah commanders would not crush the group.
“Some of Hezbollah’s effective and valuable forces were tortured, which undoubtedly caused damage to Hezbollah, but this was not the kind of damage that could bring the group to its knees,” he said.
Elusive ceasefire
While the border between Israel and Lebanon has seen almost daily clashes for a year, violence escalated dramatically last week when coordinated explosions of communications equipment, which Hezbollah blamed on Israel, killed 39 people and injured nearly 3,000.
Israel then carried out an airstrike on Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut, killing a top military commander and other fighters and civilians.
Efforts to end the war in Gaza, which analysts say is crucial to halting the escalation in Lebanon, remain stalled.
Netanyahu has been accused by critics of delaying ceasefire negotiations in Gaza and prolonging the war to appease far-right coalition partners.
The war in Gaza began with Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli official figures, including hostages who died in captivity.
Of the 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still being held in Gaza, including 33 who the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,495 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-held territory. The UN has described the figures as reliable.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)