Barely three days after it carried the biggest aerial offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon killing hundreds of people including children and women and leaving over 1700 injured, Israel on Sep 25 asked its troops to prepare for a possible ground operation against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
At least 72 people were killed in the renewed strikes across Lebanon on Sep 25, as the death toll from Israel’s bombings surpassed 620. The latest spate of attacks include strikes in Bekaa, eastern Lebanon in which at least a dozen people were killed and 73 wounded.
Also overnight, at least 20 people were killed and over 88 wounded in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh.
In the wake of escalation in violence over past few days, the US, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and some other partner nations called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border, according to a joint statement of the countries released on Sep 25.
Israeli forces arrested at least 10 people, including two brothers, in raids across Hebron governorate in the occupied West Bank on Sep 25, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
The raids took place in Dura, Beit Kahil, Idna, and Tarqumiyah, as well as Hebron city, it reported. Hezbollah also retaliated by firing rockets towards Israel, media reports said.
Amid escalating tensions, India on Sep 25 issued an advisory “strongly” urging Indians against traveling to Lebanon till further notice. The Indian Embassy in Beirut in a statement also advised the Indian nationals residing in Lebanon to leave the country and further advised the people to exercise “extreme caution”.
US President Joe Biden on Sep 25 warned against “all-out war” in the Middle East.
According to a statement, Israel’s army chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi on Sep 25 told a tank brigade that they are “attacking” Lebanon to prepare the ground for the possibility of their entry into Lebanon,
The Israeli military said it hit over 2,000 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in targeted attacks in recent days.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sep 25 vowed that Israel’s military operations against Hezbollah would not stop until northern residents displaced by cross-border clashes could safely return to their homes.
Israel’s warnings came after Hezbollah claimed it targeted Israel’s Mossad spy agency headquarters on Tel Aviv’s outskirts on Sep 24. The Iran-backed group has for the first time fired a ballistic missile in almost a year of cross-border clashes sparked by the Gaza war.
Israel’s close ally, the United States, said it did not think Israeli troops’ ground operation in Lebanon is “imminent”.
“It doesn’t look like something is imminent,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Sep 25. Joe Biden, however, warned of the possibility of “all-out war” in the Middle East.
“An all-out war is possible,” Biden was quoted as saying.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and warned.
“Hell is breaking loose.” Guterres said in a statement.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Sep 25 called on the government to accept a ceasefire proposal floated by the US and France, but only for seven days.
Even the slightest violation of such a ceasefire would push Israel to restart its attacks with “its full force … in all areas of Lebanon.” said Lapid in a post on X, adding that “we will not accept any proposal that does not include removing Hezbollah from our northern border”.
Iran, Hezbollah’s main supporter, condemned Israel’s raids and said the Middle East was facing a “full-scale catastrophe”.
It also warned that Tehran would back Lebanon by “all means” if Israel escalated its offensive.
Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting across the Lebanese border after the war in Gaza erupted when Hamas, a Hezbollah ally also backed by Iran, attacked Israeli towns on Oct 7 last year.
