JERUSALEM, March 6 (Reuters) – Israeli strikes against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon are likely to continue after the end of the joint U.S. air war against Iran, a source briefed on Israel’s military strategy told Reuters, describing the two fronts as disconnected.
Israel warned Lebanon before the war that it would come down hard on the country if Hezbollah, the most powerful of Iran’s regional proxies, became involved. On Monday, Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel, provoking Israeli attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut and in eastern and southern Lebanon.
On Thursday, the military warned the Lebanese to leave the southern suburbs of Beirut, after ordering them to leave a wide swath of the south, while carrying out airstrikes that, according to a military source, were aimed at ‘removing the threat’ posed by Hezbollah.
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Earlier on Friday, Hezbollah warned Israelis to leave towns near the border.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe Israel’s assessment of the fighting with Hezbollah, said Israel would not tolerate residents of northern Israel, who have not left their cities and villages, coming under fire. The source did not refer to Hezbollah’s warning.
This means that Israeli operations in Lebanon will likely continue even when Iran’s attacks come to an end, the source said. The Israeli Armed Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Two senior Lebanese security officials and a foreign security official based in Lebanon said they also expected Israel to continue military operations in Lebanon even as the broader conflict with Iran comes to an end.
‘This is about ending Hezbollah once and for all,’ one of the Lebanese security officials said of the group, which wielded great influence over the Lebanese state before Israeli attacks in 2024 killed its leader and many of its fighters.
(Reporting by Emily Rose in Jerusalem, with additional reporting by Maya Gebeily in Beirut)
