The Israeli Army announced that it will “intensify” its ground campaign against the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement in Lebanon and warned that it will be a long-term operation. “The operation against the terrorist organization Hezbollah has barely begun (…). This is a long-term operation,” said the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir. “We are now preparing to intensify selective ground operations and strikes in accordance with a structured plan. We will not stop until the threat has been removed from the border and the long-term security of the inhabitants of northern Israel is guaranteed,” he added.
Later, the Brigadier General Effie Defrin stated that “more weeks of fighting are expected against Iran and Hezbollah.” Defense Minister Israel Katz had announced that the order had been given to “immediately destroy all bridges over the Litani River” to “prevent the passage (…) of Hezbollah and weapons to the south.”
According to the Lebanese national agency ANI,four attacks left the bridge unusable. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun denounced the bombing of the bridge because it “constitutes a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.” For him, it is “a prelude to a land invasion” and “collective punishment against the civilian population”.
He added that “attacking the bridges over the Litani River is an attempt to sever the geographic link between the area located south of Litani and the rest of Lebanese territory.”
Escalation of conflict
O Lebanon was drawn into war in the Middle East when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2, to avenge the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in an Israeli-American attack on the first day of the conflict. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam declared this Sunday that members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard present in Lebanon direct Hezbollah operations.
“These people have fake passports and entered the country illegally,” he accused. Since then, Israel has carried out a bombing campaign on Lebanon and ground advances in an area along the border, which have already caused thousands of deaths and displaced more than a million people.
O Hezbollah, in turn, launched rocket salvos. According to the Israeli Defense Minister, the army will also “accelerate the destruction of Lebanese homes in contact villages” on the border. According to the ANI agency, Israeli forces destroyed “a number of houses” in the village of Taybeh. Hours earlier, Israeli emergency services reported the death of a person near the border.
*AFP
