Israel Army Chief Sees Possibility for 'Sharp Conclusion' to Hezbollah Conflict

This picture taken from Lebanon's Marjayoun shows smoke clouds rising amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Kafarkila on October 24, 2024.  (Photo by AFP)
This picture taken from Lebanon's Marjayoun shows smoke clouds rising amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Kafarkila on October 24, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Israel Army Chief Sees Possibility for 'Sharp Conclusion' to Hezbollah Conflict

This picture taken from Lebanon's Marjayoun shows smoke clouds rising amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Kafarkila on October 24, 2024.  (Photo by AFP)
This picture taken from Lebanon's Marjayoun shows smoke clouds rising amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Kafarkila on October 24, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Israel's military chief said there was a possibility for a "sharp conclusion" to the conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, the military said on Thursday.

"In the north, there's a possibility of reaching a sharp conclusion. We thoroughly dismantled Hezbollah's senior chain of command," Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said in a video statement from a security assessment in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Israel unleashed its Lebanon offensive with the declared aim of securing the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from homes in northern Israel during a year of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah.

Israel has used airstrikes to pound southern Lebanon, Beirut's southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, and sent ground forces into areas near the border. Lebanese authorities say the campaign has killed more than 2,500 people and displaced more than 1 million people, spawning a humanitarian crisis.



Israeli Ground Troops in Lebanon Reach the Litani River

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese town of Al-Khiam, as seen from northern Israel, 26 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese town of Al-Khiam, as seen from northern Israel, 26 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
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Israeli Ground Troops in Lebanon Reach the Litani River

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese town of Al-Khiam, as seen from northern Israel, 26 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese town of Al-Khiam, as seen from northern Israel, 26 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)

The Israeli military says its ground troops have reached parts of Lebanon’s Litani River — a focal point of the emerging ceasefire.

In a statement Tuesday, the army said it had reached the Wadi Slouqi area in southern Lebanon and clashed with Hezbollah forces.

Under a proposed ceasefire, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is some 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the Israeli border.

The military says the clashes with Hezbollah took place on the eastern end of the Litani, just a few kilometers (miles) from the border. It is one of the deepest places Israeli forces have reached in a nearly two-month ground operation.

The military says soldiers destroyed rocket launchers and missiles and engaged in “close-quarters combat” with Hezbollah forces.

The announcement came hours before Israel’s security Cabinet is expected to approve a ceasefire that would end nearly 14 months of fighting.