Israel escalates Lebanon offensive

AFP | Beirut                                               

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Israel ramped up its ground offensive against Hezbollah along Lebanon’s southern coast yesterday, deploying more troops and urging civilians near the Mediterranean to evacuate. The Iran-backed Hezbollah said it had fired rockets at the Israeli city of Haifa, after the Israeli military reported 85 projectiles crossing from Lebanon.

The latest escalation followed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to fight a “sacred war” until Hezbollah and Hamas are defeated. Israel expanded operations in Lebanon nearly a year after Hezbollah opened a front in support of its Palestinian ally, Hamas, following the deadliest attack in its history on October 7, 2023.

While battling Hamas in Gaza, Israel has vowed to secure its northern border with Lebanon to allow tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by Hezbollah’s cross-border fire to return home.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah have pledged no let-up against Israel, and yesterday Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qassem said the group would make it impossible for Israelis to return to the north.

Israel launched a wave of strikes against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon on September 23, leaving at least 1,110 people dead since then and forcing more than a million people to flee. Israeli attacks have mainly targeted Hezbollah stronghold areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as south Beirut.

While the southern coast has not been spared, Israel’s latest evacuation warning suggests it is widening its offensive northwards. On its Telegram channel, the Israeli military said its 146th Division began “limited, localised, targeted operational activities” against Hezbollah targets and infrastructure in southwestern Lebanon.

Hezbollah defiant A day earlier, the military had warned people to stay away from the southern shore, with a spokesman saying Israel would “soon operate in the maritime area against Hezbollah’s terrorist activities” south of the Al-Awali river.

In Sidon, fishermen stayed ashore and the seafood market was unusually quiet. “Fishing was the way we supported our children. If we don’t go out to sea, we won’t be able to feed ourselves,” said fisherman Issam Haboush.

The Israeli military said it hit Hezbollah’s south Beirut bastion, where a strike last month killed the militant group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah’s deputy Qassem said despite Israel’s “painful” strikes, the group’s leadership structure was in order and its military capabilities were “fine”.

He also said he supported the Lebanese government’s efforts to secure a ceasefire, while warning that Hezbollah would keep fighting. “Netanyahu says he wants to bring back” the displaced to their homes in northern Israel, Qassem said.

But “we say that many more residents will be forced to flee” their homes, he warned. The expansion in the fighting came a day after Israelis and people around the world marked a year since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.