Israel is expanding the security zone in southern Lebanon and is stepping up its ground offensive against Hezbollah. The attacks have claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people since March.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that he has ordered the army to further expand the existing security zone in southern Lebanon. A ground operation by Israeli forces against militants from the Shiite movement Hezbollah continues in the country. Since the beginning of March, according to the latest balance, Israeli attacks in Lebanon have claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
According to Netanyahu, the expansion of the buffer zone aims to “definitely eliminate the threat of an invasion by Hezbollah and prevent the firing of anti-tank missiles near the border.”
Defense of Northern Israel
“We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,” Netanyahu said in a video after visiting the army headquarters in northern Israel. Defense Minister Yisrael Kac announced this week that the Israeli army will take control of southern Lebanon up to the Lítání River.
Netanyahu admitted that even after ground and air strikes, Hezbollah retained “residual capacity” to fire rockets at Israel, but he said the movement had suffered heavy losses.
Iran and its allies
“Iran is no longer the same Iran, Hezbollah is no longer the same Hezbollah, and Hamas is no longer the same Hamas,” he said, adding that they were no longer “terrorist armies that threaten our existence” but “defeated enemies fighting for their own survival.”
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war, sparked by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, on March 2 after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In response, Israel launched large-scale airstrikes on Beirut and later a ground invasion of Lebanon. The government there has since banned Hezbollah’s military activities and called on it to hand over its weapons. According to the Lebanese authorities, since March 2, Israeli strikes have claimed more than 1,200 lives.
