Israel Activates Reserve Brigades, Invasion of Neighboring Country Appears Imminent
Israel has activated reserve brigades and appears to be preparing for an imminent ground assault against Lebanese territory.
The development in the growing Middle Eastern conflict comes as Hezbollah, operating largely out of Lebanon, continues to rain down missiles on Israeli lands.
Commanders of the Israeli Defense Forces have hinted this is not a small border operation, but movements through areas where the terrorist organizations are embedded.
“Today, we will continue, we are not stopping; we keep striking and hitting them everywhere,” IDF General Staff chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said, according to ABC News.
“The goal is very clear,” he continued, “to safely return the residents of the north. To achieve that, we are preparing the process of a maneuver, which means your military boots, your maneuvering boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts, with underground infrastructure, staging points and launchpads into our territory and carry out attacks on Israeli civilians.”
Shortly before the announcement, a “heavy missile” was launched from Lebanon towards Israel.
While Hezbollah said the weapon was aimed at the Tel Aviv headquarters of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence and espionage arm, Israeli officials have denied that was the missile’s main target. In either case, the missile was shot down while still in transit to its target.
In addition to thousands of Israeli troops currently being called up, the IDF is in the midst of a furious bombing campaign in southern Lebanon.
According to Reuters, the men being called up are a part of two reserve brigades.
Israel said the activation of thousands of men was a move to “continuation of combat against the Hezbollah terrorist organization” as well as “the [defense] of the State of Israel.” Military forces moving north into Lebanon will also be clearing the way for the eventual return of people who were forced to flee the country’s northern border area.
As the way is cleared for the return of the Israelis, as many as 500,000 people are expected to evacuate from Lebanon’s southern areas.
There is a fear that an escalation in the Middle East could soon draw the backers of Israel and Hezbollah/Hamas, the United States and Iran, respectively, into a heated war in the region.
Both of these outside players have so far refused to take a direct and open hand in the conflict.
The growing military action against Hezbollah comes shortly after an apparent mass sabotage destroyed the group’s equipment and maimed or killed its members.
In the deadly incident, countless pagers exploded across Lebanon. Victims of the devices’ blasts were overwhelmingly members of Hezbollah. Days later, even more equipment blew up in a second wave of explosive sabotage.
It’s believed Israeli forces somehow secreted a small amount of explosive compound onto the devices, which were newly-received by Hezbollah and spent time in a warehouse before that.
Israel has not taken responsibility for the mass explosions that crippled terrorists’ ability to communicate, but the country is suspected to have had a major hand in the blasts.
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