With the severe escalation in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in recent days, Israeli authorities are once again talking about the inevitability of a third Lebanon war and are preparing the public for such a possibility.
On Monday, the Israeli army announced a new exercise to “examine the effectiveness of coordination between military commands in the event of a widescale war with Lebanon,” with the participation of Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, the head of the Military Intelligence Division, Aharon Haliva, Air Force Commander Tomer Bar, and the commander of the northern region, Uri Gordin.
The army spokesman also announced that the 146th Division and the 205th Reserve Armored Brigade had carried out drills over the past few weeks simulating combat scenarios on the northern front and the rapid deployment of forces in the field.
Military sources said Israel is awaiting a major development that would leave behind a large number of Israeli casualties to use as a pretext to launch a long comprehensive war on Lebanon.
Yedioth Ahronoth’s military correspondent, Yoav Zeitoun, revealed that the Israeli army expects the scope of the war with Lebanon to expand to include the Houthis in Yemen and Iranian militias in Iraq and Syria.
He noted that the recent exercises took into account the possibility that Iran would enter the battle directly this time. Air drills were carried out over Greece during which the army trained to supply 130 combat aircraft with fuel. The exercises saw the participation of “friendly” armies, the correspondent said without giving further details.
On Sunday, the Alma Research Center, which specializes in monitoring Israel’s northern front, issued a report saying May witnessed a peak in combat escalation. The report said Hezbollah launched 325 attacks on northern Israel during this period, with an average of 10 attacks per day, compared to 238 in April.
