Israel’s long-threatened escalation of their attacks on Lebanon seems to have begun in earnest on Thursday, with massive numbers of strikes reported against several towns and villages in the country’s south.
The IDF issued evacuation warnings for at least five sites in southern Lebanon, and is claiming, as they so often do, that everything they are attacking is Hezbollah infrastructure. Early indications are that a substantial number of civilian casualties have occurred. The most recent toll has one confirmed killed and nine wounded, though those tolls are expected to rise.
This comes amid an Israeli security cabinet meeting, at which the Northern Command will reportedly present various options for the direction and scale of a military escalation in Lebanon, in spite of a ceasefire nominally having been in place for the past year.
Thick smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Teir Debba (Marwan Naamani/dpa via Reuters Connect)
Israel has violated the ceasefire thousands of times since then, killing hundreds of people, including over 100 confirmed to be civilians. Hezbollah has not fired a single rocket at Israel during that period, though that may be about to change.
Hezbollah issued a report early on in the latest attacks stating their position that they retain a legitimate right to self-defense. They did not affirm that they would strike back after these latest Israeli attacks, just that they have a right to.
The Lebanese government has been seeking talks with Israel to try to calm tensions, though Israel has rejected the idea. That’s one thing they and Hezbollah seem to agree on, as Hezbollah has said they don’t believe direct talks with Israel are in the national interest.
Israel has yet to announce its plans beyond further attacking Lebanon, though recently they’ve suggested no place in the country would be immune to strikes. Israeli officials are also being quoted as saying that the current attacks are being carried out in coordination with the United States.
US officials have yet to comment on this, but it is largely in keeping with US Envoy Tom Barrack’s position, which is that Lebanon is a “failed state” and that the US would support their ally, Israel, in the event of a new war.
