The Israeli military announced Tuesday that the heads of the IDF’s Northern Command and Operations Directorate approved a tactical schedule for an offensive into southern Lebanon.
In a statement, the two Major Generals, Ori Gordin and Oded Basiuk, said that after an assessment of the security situation in northern Israel, “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved.”
The decision comes amid an eight-month-long terror campaign by the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon that has included almost daily incursions of drone, missile, and rocket attacks targeting the Druze and Jewish communities in the area.
The frequent bombardments have caused 60,000 residents to be evacuated, the closure of major roadways, the diversion of emergency and combat personnel, and multiple wildfires to scorch the region.
In addition to the vast infrastructure damage created by the relentless attacks, at least 11 civilians and 15 soldiers have been killed because of the aggression.
Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has said that he wishes to end the conflict with the Jewish state, but in the event of an invasion by Israel, his jihadists "will take the Zionist entity to disaster and will take the opposing front to a great and proud historic victory."
On the same day as the announcement was made, State Department special envoy Amos Hochstein told reporters at a press conference in Beirut that the Biden administration feels that the situation on the ground is “in everyone’s interest to resolve it quickly and diplomatically.”
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