BREAKING: The Israeli army chief is preparing troops for a ground invasion into Lebanon. He stated that Israeli strikes on Lebanon are aimed at facilitating the “possible entry” of its forces.
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To be clear, they’ve been saying this for months.
But they have definitely upped the bombings since the pager terror attack, and it does look like a potential invasion.
Israel’s top general has said the country is preparing for a possible ground operation into Lebanon amid growing international pressure for a negotiated ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.
As an intense bombing campaign inside Lebanon stretched into a third day, Israel’s chief of staff, Maj Gen Herzi Halevi, said the airstrikes aimed to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure and prepare for the possibility of Israeli troops crossing the border.
Halevi told troops during a visit to Israel’s north: “We are preparing the process of a manoeuvre, which means your military boots, your manoeuvring boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts, with underground infrastructure, staging points and launchpads into our territory [from which to] carry out attacks on Israeli civilians.”
Despite Halevi’s comments, the Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said a ground offensive did not appear “imminent”.
It was unclear whether Halevi’s public comments and the diplomatic efforts were connected, with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, due to be out of the country for four days from Thursday for the UN general assembly.
Later on Wednesday evening, Israeli officials were pessimistic about any chance of a ceasefire.
In Lebanon, authorities said on Wednesday that the death toll after three days of Israeli bombardment had passed 600, with thousands more injured. The UN said 90,000 people had been displaced since Monday, on top of more than 200,000 people who had left their homes in southern Lebanon over the past year as Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire over the border.
It’s not clear how the IDF can be prepared for this, after a year of failures in Gaza.
But they can just send in American forces dressed as Jews.
I’m sure they’ll figure it out.