GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 355

Ground Offensive Coming

Troops In Lebanon

We’re told that the IDF is getting ready to go into Lebanon in an article from i24news.tv:

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said on Wednesday the military was preparing for a ground operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“We are conducting aerial attacks all day, both to prepare the area for the possibility of entry into Lebanon, and also to continue dealing blows to Hezbollah,” the general told troops of the 7th Armored Brigade during a drill simulating a ground maneuver in Lebanon.

Halevi then signaled that Hezbollah should prepare for a serious pounding:

“Hezbollah has expanded its range of fire today. It is about to receive a very strong response,” he said. “Today we will continue, we do not stop, we continue to attack and continue to strike them everywhere. The goal is very clear, to return the displaced residents of the north safely."

“To this end, we are preparing the ground maneuver,” he concluded.

That’s about as clear an indication that boots on the ground in Lebanon is coming. In a report from The Jerusalem Post we get more details on the preparation:

Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, during the exercises in the North, said, "We are not stopping. The Air Force is striking all day, and we are preparing for an operation."

The IDF said that recruiting additional reserve brigades would allow the fight against Hezbollah to continue.

The IDF also said that the operations would create conditions for the safe return of the north's residents to their homes in accordance with the newly adopted war goal.

We didn’t have to wait too long for those actions he spoke about:

Shortly following the announcement, the IDF struck over 60 targets belonging to Hezbollah's intelligence directorate, which it says were used to gather intelligence on Israeli maneuvers in the North.

In addition to the 60 intelligence targets, 280 launch sites and weapons depots were hit by airstrikes throughout the day after the targeting of towns across the Galilee.

This attack comes after several days of persistent Israeli strikes against Hezbollah targets across the south of the country and Beirut, including the huge communications devices explosion last week.

Strikes also hit areas of eastern Lebanon, in the Bekaa Valley, targeting weapons storage facilities.

Hezbollah then responded by striking deeper and deeper into Israel:

In response, Hezbollah has attacked Israeli towns and villages in areas that they have not regularly been targeted during the war, including Nazareth.

On Wednesday morning, Hezbollah launched a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv at 6:30 a.m., followed by another attack on Zicron Yaakov later in the day.

Hezbollah’s attacks are not on the same scale as Israel’s and don’t appear to be more than random strikes while the IDF is very targeted in where they attack.

Prime Minister Is Determined

It seems all we hear now is about the war front in the north and Prime Minister Netanyahu is adamant that the residents who had to leave that area will return as we learn from an article from the Jerusalem News Syndicate:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Jerusalem will not halt its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon until the 60,000-plus evacuated Israelis can safely return to their homes in the north.

He strongly vowed to allow the citizens displaced by Hezbollah’s constant attacks on their homes and businesses:

“I cannot detail everything we are doing, but I can tell you one thing: We are determined to return our residents in the north to their homes safely,” he said in a video released by his office on Wednesday night.

“We are inflicting blows on Hezbollah that it could not imagine. We do it with power, and we do it with ruse. I promise you one thing—we will not rest until they come home,” the premier’s succinct statement added.

The US however still thinks the fighting both in Gaza and Lebanon can end with talks:

His remarks came amid reports that the Biden administration is spearheading a new diplomatic effort to end the fighting in Lebanon and with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, connecting both war fronts as part of a single initiative.

The deal is currently being hammered out on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Reuters said, citing Lebanese officials, Western diplomats, a source briefed on the negotiations, and an expert source said to be “familiar with the thinking” of Hezbollah terrorists.

Biden still feels deals can be brokered:

U.S. President Joe Biden told ABC’s “The View” on Wednesday morning that his administration believes that all-out war involving Iran’s terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East can still be prevented with a deal.

He then brought up the tired trope of a two-state solution, something Israel rejected immediately once the October 7th attacks occurred:

“An all-out war is possible, but I think there’s also the opportunity—we’re still in play to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region,” he said, adding that there also needs to be a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

As mentioned earlier, these negotiations are happening in the shadow of the IDF sending soldiers in the southern Lebanon and after the PM told the Lebanese to push back on Hezbollah:

The diplomatic talks came as Israeli military commanders revealed that the country was preparing for a possible ground invasion of Southern Lebanon to remove the threat posed by Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu had urged civilians in Lebanon to revolt against Hezbollah’s grip on the country while warning that the Jewish state will not hesitate to strike any infrastructure used by the terror organization.

Hezbollah is “putting your country in danger,” said Netanyahu, urging Lebanese to “free yourselves from Nasrallah’s grip, for your own good.”

Netanyahu added what we keep hearing from the military and political leaders in Israel:

The Israeli leader stated on Monday that the Israel Defense Forces is “changing the security balance, the balance of power in the north.

“For those who have not yet understood, I want to clarify Israel’s policy,” the premier said following a situational assessment with senior security officials at IDF headquarters in central Tel Aviv. “We do not wait for a threat; we anticipate it. Everywhere, in every sector, at any time.

“We are destroying thousands of missiles and rockets that are directed at Israel’s cities and citizens,” the Israeli leader said in the video recording.

I know that much of what we’ve heard in this article has been stated in previous reports, but putting all this together we know that Israel will handle Hezbollah in a way that will make it safe for their people to return to that area in the north. And we know that they will do the same for Gazans who’ve had to move many times to allow Hamas to be eliminated. This is war and these displacements by all sides were caused by terrorists seeking the destruction of Israel and its people. Put the blame where it needs to be placed and that is squarely on Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. Israel knows this and those who are objective and intellectually honest know it, too.