Israel Out For Blood In Lebanon

Israel has escalated its strikes against Lebanon and appears to be preparing to launch a ground invasion against Hezbollah.

The escalation began on September 17 an 18 with an Israeli sabotage attack that saw thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploding across Lebanon. The attack claimed the lives of 42 people and wounded more than 3,500 others.

Later on September 20, an Israeli strike hit the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, killing Hezbollah top military leader Ibrahim Aqil along with 54 other people, including at least ten commanders of the group’s elite Rudwan Forces. Over 68 others were wounded in the strike.

On September 23, Israel launched an aerial campaign against Hezbollah with a level of intensity that had not been seen since the war of 2006. The campaign covered most of the country, from the southern region to the eastern Bekaa Valley and the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate in the northeast.

Israel said that it struck 1,300 targets of Hezbollah within the first 24 hours of the campaign. On the other side, the Lebanese Ministry of Health announced that 492 people were killed and more than 1,645 others were wounded on that day.

From its side, Hezbollah began launching heavy rockets deep into northern Israel, mainly hitting targets between the port of Haifa and the city of Safed. The Ramat David Air Base was one of these targets. A total of 150 rockets were fired on September 23.

The intense aerial campaign continued on September 24, with one of the strikes hitting southern Beirut and killing Ibrahim Qubaisi, head of Hezbollah’s Missile Corps.

On the same day, Hezbollah struck the headquarters of the Israeli Navy elite Shayetet 13 special forces in the area of Atlit to the south of Haifa with suicide drones. The group also launched some 300 rockets.

And on September 25, Hezbollah escalated by targeting the headquarters of the Mossad spy agency in the suburb of Tel Aviv city with a Qadir-1 ballistic missile. The Israeli military said that the missile was intercepted. This was the first time the group had launched such a missile.

By the end of September 25, the Israeli military said that it had struck some 2,000 targets of Hezbollah since the start of its aerial campaign. The Lebanese Ministry of Health said that the death toll reached 636 with more than 2,000 other people wounded.

One the same day, the Israeli military announced that it was calling up two reserve brigades to be deployed to the northern front of the country.

Overall, Israel appears to be preparing to launch a ground invasion into Lebanon to fulfill its declared aim of pushing Hezbollah away from the front.

Mirrored - South Front