US officials say that Israel has informed them today that they are planning an “imminent ground invasion” of their neighbor to the north. They further have begun the operation, and are promising the US that the invasion is to be “limited.”
Details are still scant on the invasion, but there are already reports earlier today that Israeli special forces have begun military operations into southern Lebanon. The operations are being presented by Israeli officials as targeting Hezbollah “infrastructure.”
Exactly what infrastructure means is never clear in Israeli statements, and other reports suggest that the current raids are primarily aimed at intelligence gathering ahead of broader operations by Israeli forces into the entire country. They also appear to be laying the groundwork for a bigger incursion yet to come.
While the ground operations are new, Israel continued carrying out airstrikes against southern Lebanon as they have been on a near daily basis for months. Indeed, the airstrikes have escalated dramatically in the past week, with many hundreds of people killed across Lebanon, including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Today, it is being reported that one of the airstrikes on al-Buss refugee camp killed Hamas member Fatah Sharif. Sharif was reported to also be working for the UN.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says that the US supports a diplomatic deal between Israel and Hezbollah, but did not appear to oppose the invasion, saying they believe that the military pressure could at times “enable diplomacy.”
The international community, including the US, has been scrambling for months to try to secure a ceasefire which would prevent Israel from invading Lebanon. Hezbollah has tied the ceasefire closely to reaching a similar deal in Israel’s ongoing invasion of the Gaza Strip. Israeli officials seem to have taken little out of the pushes for a deal, and have long talked up the need for a ground invasion.
It is not clear how broad an Israeli invasion of Lebanon would be, but most countries have been strongly urging their citizens to flee the country as soon as possible to avoid casualties. Large numbers of Lebanese have also fled into Syria to avoid the invasion.
One must hope that none of these IDF terrorists are spared. Payback is way long overdue.
I understand your sentiments but, if this does not stop?…
We’ll all be in the sh-t.
I still have my doubts that there will be a full ground invasion. But if it happens, then Godspeed to the defenders of the cedars and good luck in your efforts to turn the invaders into folded Israeli flags.
Not one more dime for Israel!!!
I will NOT support any candidate unless they support peace!
"has been scrambling for months to try to secure a ceasefire"
Bullshit. Iranian President Pezeshkian declared that was "all lies".
According to Alastair Crooke, he and an internal Iranian faction that wants greater engagement with the West went around Khamenei's back and got assurances from the US that there would be a ceasefire and that Iran would get sanctions relief if it held back its retaliation for the Haniya assassination.
That is what he's now calling "all lies." He was an idiot for believing the West and now Iran is under pressure from the rest of the Axis to stop screwing around.
This is likely a "reconnaissance in force", not the actual invasion. As has been pointed out elsewhere by some analysts, Israel's forces are miles behind their previous border positions, because they pulled back once Hezbollah started bombing them, and they will have to move up their forces and cross contested terrain before they even get near the Lebanese border.
So this is just small units doing recon to determine where the main force is likely to get hit from and the best routes to take to avoid that.
Everyone should watch Judge Nap's interview with Alastair Crooke this morning. Forget McGovern, Johnson and Ritter. Anya Parampil is worth listening to, as she seems to get it.
Alastair Crooke : Netanyahu Gambles on Slaughter
Why would Israel agree to a cease fire? In their eyes, they have enemies on the northern border who have been firing missiles into northern Israel for a decade. Both Hamas and Israel see each other as mortal enemies. The Israelis see themselves as having the advantage right now. From their viewpoint, a cease fire would only give Hezbollah a chance to regroup. The Israelis don't care what anyone else thinks.
Their enemies shoot back. That is why they should make peace. Stop shooting at them, and they won't shoot back.
That includes stopping the genocide in Gaza, of course. Selective mass murder, one group after another, is not a route to get those being murdered to stop firing missiles.
Israel is the bad guy here, to put it mildly. Like Germany was the bad guy in WW2, and with the same mind set.
I think Israel is a “bad guy.” What you can’t understand is that Israel is a bad guy surrounded by bad guys. For instance, If you were openly “LGBTQ” and went into Gaza before last October, you would have been beaten to death or thrown in prison, where some of those Hamas soldiers would have made the short remainder of your life quite miserable. That would not be the case in Israel, which has a vibrant LGBTQ community. That’s only one example.
Invasion has begun…Limited strike or so they say…
I am a tad naive… I was worried about Iran but the loose screw is Israel, with US support.
here it begins
February 24th, 2022 vibes
The war in gaza was just the donbass
Both Hezbollah and Iran were taking hits and holding back response, trying not to be drawn. They took hits from air strikes, offering a bare minimum of response, and waiting.
Their strength is on defense on the ground fighting from tunnels. To do that, they had to wait for Israel to throw themselves onto those defenses.
Therefore, if there is a ground attack, that is actually what they have been waiting for, the one thing they can fight best.
Thus, this is a mistake made by Israel, losing patience or giving in to their own arrogance.