Israel opened on Tuesday a new front in southern Lebanon in the Shebaa Farms in the east. Israel is already operating in the eastern sector, where it is trying to advance in border villages, and the western sector, where it is engaged in heavy fighting with Hezbollah on the outskirts of the town of Aita al-Shaab.
Israel radio said the Fifth Brigade has joined the ground operations in the South, carrying out a limited incursion in Shebaa.
Shebaa is located on the foothills of Jabal al-Sheikh mountain and extends to the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
The Lebanese government says Israel has been occupying Shebaa, as well as the Kfar Shouba Hills and northern sections of the village of Ghajar, since 1976.
Hezbollah had kicked off his “support front” with Hamas in Gaza in October 2023 by launching attacks on Israeli military positions in Shebaa.
Military experts say that Shebaa’s elevated position protects it from sophisticated attacks. This is especially true for the Arqoub region, which is predominantly Sunni and Druze. Hezbollah has been targeting the area with rockets daily since the beginning of the conflict.
The experts added that the elevation facilitates ground offensives from Israel. Its barren terrain also makes it difficult for Hezbollah to take position there as there is no vegetation in which its fighters can hide.
The position can also be a weakness for the Israeli forces because their military vehicles are exposed to rocket fire from Lebanon, they added.
By opening the Shebaa front, Israeli forces would now be operating along the entire southern border with Lebanon, stretching around 100 kms.
The experts believe that the incursion is an attempt to make up for Israeli forces’ failures in advancing in Kfar Kila and al-Adaisseh, and that they are trying to reach the town of al-Khiam, which had come under heavy raids in recent days.
