Israeli army chief hints at possible ground attack on Lebanon

JERUSALEM:JERUSALEM: Israel’s military chief told troops on Wednesday that air strikes in Lebanon would continue in order to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure and to prepare the way for a possible ground operation by Israeli forces.

“You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day,” General Herzi Halevi told troops on the border with Lebanon, according to a statement from the military. “This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”

Israel widened its airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday and shot down a missile that the armed group Hezbollah said it had fired at the Mossad spy agency near Tel Aviv, ratcheting up the conflict between the two arch-foes.

The Hezbollah claimed to have targeted the Mossad headquarters with what it described as a ballistic missile – the first time in nearly a year of warfare that Tel Aviv, in central Israel, has been so threatened.

World leaders meanwhile expressed concern that the conflict – running in parallel to Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas – was rapidly intensifying as the death toll in Lebanon rose and thousands of people fled their homes.

BLINKEN SAYS US, PARTNERS WORKING TO AVOID FULL-BLOWN WAR

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday the risk of escalation in the Middle East was “acute” and that Washington and its allies were working tirelessly to avoid a full-blown war between Israel and Iran-aligned Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

“With regard to Lebanon, we’ve been working tirelessly with partners to avoid a full-blown war and to move to a diplomatic process that would allow Israelis and Lebanese alike to go back to their homes,” Blinken said at the start of a meeting with senior officials and ministers of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in New York.

“Risk of escalation in the region is acute..The best answer is diplomacy, and our coordinated efforts are vital to preventing further escalation,” he added.

A senior State Department official on Monday said that the United States and its allies and partners are exploring concrete ideas this week on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly that convenes in New York, an event that brings dozens of heads of state and senior officials together.

Israel widened its airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday and shot down a missile that Hezbollah said it had fired at the Mossad spy service headquarters near Tel Aviv, ratcheting up the conflict between the two arch-foes.

The hostilities between them run in parallel to Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas and have been intensifying, with the death toll in Lebanon rising and thousands of people fleeing their homes.

Washington has also been pushing for months to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza that will bring the hostages back, but success has proven elusive. U.S. officials say such a deal would also help calm tensions between Hezbollah and Israel.

“Each of us has to continue to press all of the parties to make the decisions necessary to get this deal over the finish line. It remains again, the best way to get hostages home, bring relief to people, and also can help us reduce tensions on other fronts,” Blinken said.

Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, while abducting 250 others, triggering the latest round of fighting in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In response, Israel launched a relentless military offensive on Gaza that killed more than 40,000 people, according to Palestinian officials, and reduced the tiny enclave to a wasteland.

UK SENDS TROOPS TO CYPRUS

Meanwhile, Britain is moving troops to Cyprus in position to help evacuate nationals trapped in Lebanon, while Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for diplomacy and an immediate ceasefire to bring Israel and Hezbollah back from the brink.

After Israeli airstrikes brought Lebanon’s deadliest day since the end of a 1975-1990 civil war, Starmer told British citizens to leave while there were still commercial flights.

“It’s very important that they hear my message, which is to leave and to leave immediately,” he told reporters.

The government said in a statement late on Tuesday that 700 troops would travel to Cyprus, bolstering its presence in the area where it already has two Royal Navy ships, aircraft and transport helicopters.

The biggest Israeli airstrikes in nearly two decades against Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement have increased fears that nearly a year of conflict in Gaza will expand into a wider war destabilising the Middle East.

“I’m calling for all parties to step back from the brink, to de-escalate,” Starmer said. “We need a ceasefire so this can be sorted out diplomatically.”

Israel’s airstrikes since Monday morning have killed 569 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835 in Lebanon, Health Minister Firass Abiad has said.

The foreign minister said half a million people have fled their homes. Thousands of displaced people are sheltering in schools and other buildings.

Israel has said it is shifting its focus from Gaza to the northern frontier, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.