The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is reportedly prepared to invade southern Lebanon imminently as it looks to push the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah back several miles, which would allow tens of thousands of Israelis to return to their homes in the north.
The operation comes after Israel has decimated Hezbollah’s leadership in recent months, killing hundreds of commanders and wiping out all of the group’s senior commanders in the last couple of weeks, including its leader, Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah.
Israeli commandos have already carried out missions in southern Lebanon in recent days in preparation for the invasion, The New York Times reported.
The raids were carried out to identify Hezbollah infrastructure that needed to be destroyed and identify terrorist positions.
The Biden-Harris administration aggressively tried to convince Israel not to invade in intense talks they had over the weekend. The administration believes that they were successful in persuading Israel to at least scale back the size of the invasion.
Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the IDF’s “next stage of the war against Hezbollah will soon commence,” which will “constitute a significant factor in changing the security situation.”
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The Washington Post reported that the invasion is expected to start “imminently” and will focus on “clearing out militant infrastructure along the border to remove the threat to Israeli border communities.”
The news comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a special message to the people of Iran on Monday, telling them that they would soon be free from the oppressive Islamic regime.
“There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach,” he said. “There is nowhere we will not go to protect our people and protect our country.”
“When Iran is finally free, and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think – everything will be different,” he continued. “When that day comes, the terror network that the regime built in five continents will be bankrupt, dismantled.”
