Israel is preparing for largest-scale ground offensive in Lebanon since 2006 war

Israel is planning a large-scale invasion of southern Lebanon in order to dismantle Hezbollah’s assets south of the Litani River, Axios reported on Friday, citing Israeli and US officials.

According to the report, Israeli officials are planning an operation in which the military would seize the entire area south of the Litani River and dismantle Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, which would be the largest one performed in Lebanon since the 2006 war.

“We are going to do what we did in Gaza,” a senior Israeli official told Axios. According to the report, the offensive was planned after Hezbollah’s attack against Israel, where more than 200 rockets were fired against the country in coordination with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“Before this attack, we were ready for a ceasefire in Lebanon, but after it, there is no way back from a massive operation,” the report explained, citing senior Israeli officials.

“The goal is to take over territory, push Hezbollah’s forces north and away from the border, and dismantle its military positions and weapons depots in the villages,” the official said.

The Axios report contradicts statements that the IDF told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, with the military not in favor of launching a full invasion of Lebanon, despite the Hezbollah attack.

Despite Hezbollah firing over 200 rockets overnight (compared to at most 100 per day until now during this conflict) and an increased pace in drone attacks, the IDF still views Iran as the central theater of the current multifront war, with Lebanon being a secondary front mainly to prevent any attacks from Hezbollah and to keep the terror group on its back feet.

According to the IDF, the results of air defenses and military coordination versus Hezbollah’s larger attack on Wednesday night were mixed.

Less than an hour after the IDF told the Post it was not considering a ground offensive, Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a statement that seemed to threaten an imminent invasion.

Katz, on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that he had warned Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that if the Lebanese military did not crack down on Hezbollah rocket fire on Israel, the IDF would launch a larger invasion in Lebanon to bring down the rocket fire.

Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.