Jerusalem Signs of a third full-blown war between Israel and Syria Hezbollah, a US-designated terrorist organization that runs a state within a state in Lebanon, is growing increasingly stronger. Israel has fought two wars against the terrorist forces in Lebanon in 1982 and 2006 and it looks like a third war is on the way.
Israel Defense Forces The (IDF) has redeployed its elite and battle-tested 98th Division from the southern battle zone of Gaza to the north against Hamas, in what is being considered by some as a possible prelude to a ground invasion to root out Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon.
IDF reserve Brigadier General Amir Avivi told Fox News Digital that there is going to be a war against Hezbollah in the north. “It became clear a few weeks ago that due to the fact that Israel has destroyed most of the Hamas forcesHamas is no longer a serious threat to Israel. This was the moment to decide to change strategy and move the center of gravity from the south to the north.”
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Rescuers carry a body at the site of a missile attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. ((AP Photo/Bilal Hussein))
The spate of activities in Israel – a country the size of New Jersey – comes amid reports of the Jewish state’s foreign intelligence service, Mossad, reportedly blowing up the electronic devices of Hezbollah operatives in a scene straight out of a John le Carré spy novel. Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded on Tuesday, killing 12 people, including two children, and wounding nearly 2,800 others.
Electronic equipment exploded again on Wednesday, killing at least 25 people and wounding more than 450. Hezbollah officials said the equipment included walkie-talkies and solar equipment.
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The Israel Defense Forces said they targeted Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon on Thursday. (Israel Defense Forces)
“This was the moment to change tactics and decide to shift the center of gravity from south to north”
Israel and Hezbollah are at loggerheads heavy air war In the past 48 hours, Israel’s war cabinet has announced the repatriation of 100,000 Israeli civilians who were forced to flee north because of Hezbollah attacks.
Avivi, who heads the Israel Defense and Security Forum, He said there was no way to safely return displaced Israelis to their homes in the north “unless Hezbollah is driven out of southern Lebanon and all of Hezbollah’s capabilities throughout Lebanon are struck.”
Israel Defense Forces soldiers operating near the Lebanese border.
He said a diplomatic solution was unlikely due to a lack of international pressure and the US reluctance to pose a credible military threat against Iran and Hezbollah.
has failed to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701, according to which Hezbollah will be disarmed The attack took place in the aftermath of the 2006 war against the Jewish state.
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Another devastating blow to Hezbollah came when members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force were killed in an IDF attack in Beirut on Friday.
IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani Announced on Friday at X that, “We killed Ibrahim Aqeel in a precision strike in Beirut, Lebanon this morning. At the time of the attack, Ibrahim Aqeel and about 10 Radwan commanders killed with him were hiding underground – beneath a residential building in the heart of the Dahiyah neighborhood, among Lebanese civilians – using them as human shields.”
Aqeel was a wanted global Islamic terrorist whose hands were stained with the blood of American military personnel. He was wanted by the US for his alleged role in the Islamic State. Bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983. He is also believed to have had a hand in the taking of American hostages in Lebanon during the 1980s.
The IDF says it killed senior Hezbollah militant Ibrahim Aqeel in a strike in Beirut on Friday. (IDF Spokesperson Unit)
Shoshani said, “They were planning more terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. Terrorist attacks like the 200 rockets fired at Israeli civilians today and many more. These commanders also planned Hezbollah’s “Conquest of Galilee” attack, in which Hezbollah intended to infiltrate Israeli communities and kill innocent civilians.”
Hezbollah attacked Israel on October 8 – a day after its ally Hamas attacked Israel and killed about 1,200 people. More than 40 people have been killed in Israel in Hezbollah attacks. Including 12 Israeli Druze children On a packed football field in July.
“If Hezbollah cares about Lebanon’s future, it should make the right move by withdrawing from the Israeli border”
Former IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus told Fox News Digital, “If Israel wanted to launch a full-blown offensive against Iranian proxies in Lebanon, it would not have had to wait more than 11 months to do so. After delivering a shocking and demoralizing blow by blowing up communications equipment, the IDF is attacking launchers and military infrastructure in Lebanon in what is perhaps Israel’s last-ditch effort to pressure Hezbollah to agree to a diplomatic settlement that could prevent war.”
The aftermath of a Hezbollah rocket attack on the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona on May 10, 2024. (Photo: Erez Bar Simon/TPS-IL.) (Erez Bar Simon/TPS-IL)
“If Hezbollah cares about Lebanon’s future, it should do the right thing by withdrawing from the Israeli border and stopping its aggression against Israel, and severing its artificial ties with Hamas’ war against Israel,” said Conricus, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Ultimately, the Israeli authorities have an obligation to facilitate the safe return of expelled Israelis to their homes, whether through a diplomatic agreement or military action.”
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Hezbollah fighters form a human barrier during a funeral procession for Fuad Shukr, a top Hezbollah commander who was killed in the southern suburbs of Beirut on August 1, 2024. Hezbollah on August 1 mourned Shukr, whose body was recovered from the rubble of the July 30 Israeli attack on southern Beirut that killed five civilians, three women and two children, and injured dozens of people, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, raising fears of a wider conflict in the region. (Photo by KHALID DESSOUKI/AFP) (Photo by KHALID DESSOUKI/AFP via Getty Images) (Photo: KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Lebanon’s ambassador to Britain, Rami Mortada, told the Times of London that Israel’s invasion “is doomsday for everybody. It is certainly doomsday for Lebanon.” He warned that Lebanon would not be the only victim in a new war.
Israeli war planners have spent 17 years preparing for a doomsday conflict in the north since the last war against Hezbollah in 2006.
Fox News’ Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report.
