Israel’s army has warned that Hezbollah’s growing military capabilities could force it to take pre-emptive steps, as Israeli ground raids increasingly push deeper into Lebanon.
Israel's Ynet news site, affiliated with Yedioth Ahronoth, quoted senior Israeli officers on Monday as saying that the expanding daily activities of Israeli forces in Lebanon have not halted Hezbollah’s continued mobilization, particularly in villages farther from the border.
A year after the US-brokered ceasefire agreement in southern Lebanon, the Israeli military believes, according to the newspaper, that Israel is approaching its toughest test yet of the “zero-tolerance” policy adopted after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
Military officials told the newspaper that Israel is on the verge of launching a brief pre-emptive operation designed to deter Hezbollah and further erode the party's expanding capabilities.
Despite the US-brokered truce a year ago, an Israeli airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut on Sunday, killed Hezbollah’s top military official.
Hezbollah mourned its acting chief of staff, Haytham Ali Tabtabai, in a statement, but stopped short of mentioning whether it plans to retaliate.
The strike came as part of Israel’s ongoing escalation against Lebanon, which in recent weeks has focused on the south and the eastern Bekaa Valley.
It has been accompanied by repeated Israeli threats to widen the scope of the conflict, the latest of which came yesterday morning from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who reiterated that Israel will continue to do whatever is necessary to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its capabilities.
Meanwhile, a wave of targeted killings carried out by the Israeli military in southern Lebanon continues unabated.
