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Coinciding with Lebanon entering the second military phase of the Israeli war on it, which is the intensification of raids and the expansion of the targeting area, southern Lebanon has witnessed, during the past two days, an intensive and long-term series of raids, which indicate, according to what is being said, an Israeli tendency to create fire belts along the south and north of the Litani River.
Diplomatic circles revealed to Al Bayan that they had exchanged accurate information in the past few hours, talking about the possibility that the war will expand in the coming days, after everyone was informed that the two parties to the conflict, Hezbollah and Israel, had raised their level of readiness and alert, which would lead to an increase in the intensity of military operations in a way that would not be easy to curb.
Recent military developments have suggested to monitoring sources that the race between military and diplomatic options has been decided in favor of the former, and that things are heading toward unforeseen operations that may deviate from the so-called “rules of engagement” that have governed the situation in the past few months.
This is because the Israeli army has moved to a new phase of attempts to weaken Hezbollah’s military capabilities, through double targeting of missile launching centers and platforms, and through two rounds of airstrikes, the largest and most violent since October 8.
Which it launched yesterday on areas deep in southern Lebanon and the border area, which led to the killing of more than 100 people, the Israeli army, according to the confirmation of political sources following up, is trying to impose a new reality on the ground, the title of which is to militarily remove Hezbollah from the border.
And not giving it the opportunity to return to carrying out direct operations from the front edge or facing the border, while indicating to “Al Bayan” that the raids are concentrated on the Litani River and beyond it to the north, in addition to some pockets where the party still maintains missile platforms in areas close to the border, with what this means in terms of the existence of a plan to push “Hezbollah” to the borders of the river and beyond it.
There are indications that the party has expanded the range of its targets, as it launched multiple rocket salvos at large areas in the Galilee, Golan Heights and the suburbs of Haifa, where air raid sirens sounded repeatedly in 55 Israeli settlements in the “north”, 50 km deep from the Lebanese border.
Hezbollah announced that it had targeted the Ramat David base and airport southeast of Haifa with dozens of Fadi-1 and Fadi-2 missiles, in response to the repeated Israeli attacks on various areas of Lebanon. Within an hour, it returned and launched dozens of missiles in three batches towards areas in Israel, hitting areas east of Haifa and the Lower Galilee, causing damage and fires in some areas.
Between the two scenes, there is also a consensus that the critical military situation in Lebanon has reached the point of no return, rolling dramatically, especially amid Israel’s insistence on achieving its goals of returning the residents of the northern settlements.
Which, it claims, can only be achieved by weakening the party. There is also a consensus that what is expected is a natural development of the recent period of high-pitched statements that preceded, accompanied and followed the unprecedented Israeli attack.
What was not expected was manifested in two qualitative operations, reflected by the bombing of the “Pager” and “Walkie” networks, before its intensity rose to its peak with the raid that targeted a meeting of military leaders from the “Radwan Force” in the heart of one of the party’s largest security squares in the southern suburb of Beirut, and the casualties it resulted in, despite the negotiations, mediations, and “international efforts” to rescue solutions and settlements, while the question remains: Is it really possible to avoid a wider war yet?
