Israel has informed officials in the Biden-Harris government that it will soon launch a limited ground invasion of southern Lebanon. The move comes on the heels of Israeli military strikes over the last several weeks, which have seemingly eliminated nearly the entire senior leadership of the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah. On Friday, the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in a massive airstrike on the terror group’s command bunker just south of the Lebanese capital of Beirut.
According to U.S. officials, the Israelis say the invasion will be much smaller in scale than the 2006 ground war in Lebanon, which saw around 120 Israeli soldiers killed and another 1,200 wounded. Israel estimates the 2006 war resulted in the deaths of 600 Hezbollah fighters, with upwards of 800 wounded. Nearly 1,200 Lebanese civilians were also killed in the war, according to international humanitarian groups. Additionally, Israeli officials have told the U.S. that the latest incursion into Lebanon will be far shorter in duration than the 2006 conflict.
Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel, the Jewish state has been engaged in a multi-front conflict with Hamas in Gaza to its south and with Hezbollah in Lebanon to its north. Both terror groups are considered to be military proxies of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Until now, the conflict has predominately remained isolated to Israel’s southern and northern borders; however, a ground incursion into Lebanon—especially following the decapitation strikes against Hezbollah’s leadership—could provoke a more aggressive response from Iran.
Earlier this month, Israel allegedly used small explosives hidden in pager devices and walkie-talkies to injure or kill hundreds of Hezbollah terrorists.
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