Israel’s senior military commander said the country is “preparing for an offensive” in Lebanon.
Herzi Halevi told reservists there would be a military operation unless Hezbollah forces withdrew from their middle-eastern neighbour.
He said: “You are doing an excellent job of operational defence in the north, and we are preparing for an offensive in the north”.
The former paratrooper did not go into detail about the timing of the operation or how wide-ranging it might be.
It comes as tensions have continued to rise on the border between the two countries with as many as 70,000 Israelis forced to flee their homes after Hezbollah rocket attacks which followed the attacks of October 7 while towns in southern Lebanon have also been deserted as around 100,000 residents left in the face of Israeli air strikes.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 350 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters with Hezbollah and allied groups, but also including more than 50 civilians. Hezbollah attacks have killed at least ten civilians and 12 soldiers in Israel.
Israel wants Hezbollah to comply with a 2006 United Nations resolution calling on them to disarm and withdraw south of Lebanon’s Litani river, about 18 miles from the border with Israel.
The resolution was passed to end a month-long war in which Israel, which had occupied southern Lebanon between 1982 and 2000, sent in troops after a Hezbollah cross-border raid.
It was reported earlier this year that US officials believed Israel would launch a ground offensive in Lebanon in late spring or early summer if diplomacy failed.
The Iranian-backed militant group have around a hundred thousand rockets and can call on tens of thousands of armed men in southern Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned last year the group’s attacks would bring destruction to Lebanon, telling them “an all-out war” would turn the country “into Gaza”.
The war in Gaza started after the Palestinian militant group Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis and took more than 200 hostage.
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Israel’s attack has caused widespread destruction in Gaza and left more than 34,500 Palestinians dead, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry.
