‘Prepare Yourselves’: Israel Army Chief Tells Troops To Get Ready To Enter Lebanon

Israeli military Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi walks with Israeli military soldiers, at a location given as northern Israel. (Image: REUTERS)

Israeli chief of the general staff Herzi Halevi indicated that the strikes on Lebanon’s southern border was to lay the groundwork for IDF ground offensive.

The Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi on Wednesday told Israeli soldiers that the ‘jets flying overhead’ towards Lebanon are heading there to ‘prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah’, according to broadcaster BBC.

The Israeli military announced that it is calling up two reserve brigades for “operational missions” in the northern parts of the country and positioning them closer to the Lebanese border.

“You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day. This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah,” Herzi Halevi told troops, the broadcaster said.

“Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves. We will continue, we are not stopping; we keep striking and hitting them everywhere. The goal is very clear—to safely return the residents of the north,” he said.

“(To achieve that, the military is) 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,” Halevi was quoted as saying.

Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel on Wednesday, including a longer-range projectile that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel. It was the group’s farthest strike yet. Israel said it intercepted the projectile, and there were no reports of casualties or damage.

Hezbollah said it had fired a ballistic missile at the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, which it said was responsible for the targeted killing of its senior leaders. Israel later said it struck the site the missile was launched from in southern Lebanon.

Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander Tuesday as part of a two-day bombing campaign that left more than 560 people dead and prompted thousands in southern Lebanon to seek refuge from the widening conflict. Hezbollah has launched hundreds of projectiles towards Israel, causing some damage to buildings and homes and lightly injuring a number of people.

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since the Israel-Hamas war began. Israel’s military says it will do “whatever is necessary” to push Hezbollah away from Lebanon’s border with Israel.

(with inputs from the Associated Press)