The Israeli military has closed a stretch of northern Israel along the Lebanese border — as US officials reported that the Jewish state is preparing for an “imminent” invasion of southern Lebanon to take out Hezbollah outposts.
By Monday night, Israel’s Northern Command head, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, ordered a section of Israel’s northern district closed to all civilians, according to the Times of Israel.
The Jewish state told the Biden administration Monday that a limited incursion into southern Lebanon to take out Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure is ready to begin at any moment, US officials told the Washington Post.
The invasion, which could become the start of a two-front war for Israel, could begin within hours, another official familiar with the talks between Jerusalem and Washington told CBS News.
President Biden told reporters Monday that he was well aware of Israel’s plans, adding that the US was opposed to the escalation as it continues to back a 21-day cease-fire deal.
“I’m more aware than you might know,” Biden said of the looming incursion, “and I’m comfortable with them stopping. We should have a cease-fire now.”
The operation is expected to be smaller than the Gaza incursion and focused on taking out Hezbollah’s tunnels, rocket launchers and weapons caches along the southern border, officials told the WaPo.
The goal is to ensure Hezbollah no longer can continue its daily missile strikes on northern Israel, which have caused tens of thousands to evacuate the area since Oct. 8.
The ground operation follows intelligence raids by special operations troops that have been carried out over several months, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The IDF has made a lot of preparations for a ground incursion,” Amir Avivi, a former senior Israeli military official still getting briefings, told the outlet. “Overall, this always includes special operations. This is part of the process.”
It comes as Israeli tanks were seen lining up close to the border with Lebanon, with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant hinting Monday that a ground operation against Hezbollah was imminent.
“Together with the fighters of the 188th Brigade on the northern border — the forces are ready and prepared to strike Hezbollah with force,” Gallant wrote in a post on X.
“Our goal is clear — returning the residents of the north to their homes. We will use all the means at our disposal to achieve this goal.”
Hezbollah also expects a ground invasion, the terror group’s deputy leader Naim Qassem said in his first remarks since Israel killed its chief, Hassan Nasrallah, last week.
“We will face any possibility and we are ready if the Israelis decide to enter by land and the resistance forces are ready for a ground engagement,” he said in an address from an undisclosed location.
Qassem’s remarks came as Israeli airstrikes on targets in Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon raged on — extending a two-week onslaught of attacks that have eliminated at least seven Hezbollah commanders.
Despite the heavy blow Hezbollah has suffered, a defiant Qassem vowed the terror group was prepared for a long fight and said the commanders killed have already been replaced.
“Israel was not able to affect our [military] capabilities,” he said. “There are deputy commanders and there are replacements in case a commander is wounded in any post.”
He added that Hezbollah’s fighters had continued to fire rockets as deep as 93 miles into Israeli territory amid escalating tensions.
“What we are doing is the bare minimum … We know that the battle may be long,” Qassem said.
In the past week, Israel has frequently targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence — including the massive strike on Friday that killed Nasrallah.
An airstrike early Monday targeted an apartment building in central Beirut — killing three leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
A Hamas leader, Fatah Sharif, was also killed alongside his family in an Israeli airstrike in the southern city of Tyre, the terror group said.
With Post wires
