Israel affirmed this Tuesday that it intensified its ground offensive against the pro-Iranian Islamist movement Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, after having deployed more troops and asking the population to evacuate the coastal area.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised this Monday, on the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks of October 7, that will continue the fight until victory against that Palestinian Islamist movement and the Lebanese Hezbollah, both allies of Iran, the sworn enemy of Israel.
Despite having eliminated the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, these movements continue to fire rockets at Israel from Gaza and Lebanon.
The Israeli army announced this Tuesday that it had launched operations against Hezbollah in southwest Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, the day before.
“Yesterday (Monday), Division 146 began limited, localized and selective operations against terrorist targets and Hezbollah infrastructure in southwestern Lebanon,” the military indicated on Telegram.
The army also reported new bombings this Tuesday against “Hezbollah terrorist targets” in southern Beirut, the militia’s stronghold.
Having weakened Hamas in its destructive offensive in Gaza, In mid-September, the Israeli army shifted the bulk of its operations to Lebanon to combat Hezbollah, which opened a front on October 8, 2023 against Israel in support of the Palestinian movement.
Israel wants to drive pro-Iran militants away from its border areas, to reduce hostilities and allow some 60,000 northerners who fled the violence to return home.
After almost a year of cross-border crossfire, the Israeli army began massive bombing of Hezbollah strongholds in the south on September 23. and eastern Lebanon, and in the southern suburbs of Beirut. In one of these attacks, the leader of the movement, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed.
On September 30, the army launched a ground offensive in southern Lebanon, where four divisions are currently deployed, 24 years after the withdrawal of its troops from the place, occupied for two decades.
Hezbollah vows that Israel will be defeated in Lebanon
But, despite these intense bombings, The Shiite militia assured that its situation is “good” and promised this Tuesday that Israel “will not achieve its objectives” and will be “defeated” in southern Lebanon.
“The enemy believes he will win. The only solution is resistance, firmness and for our people to unite around us. And this is our choice of victory, we will defeat Israel and it will not achieve its objectives,” said Naim Qassem, the number two of the group, in a speech that marks one year since the beginning of the crossfire between the two.
And he added: “Every day we score numerous successes: hundreds of rockets (fired), dozens of drones, a large number of (Israeli) colonies and cities under fire from the resistance’s rockets (…) I can guarantee you that our capabilities are still good, contrary to the enemy, who claims to have weakened us.”
The movement’s leadership is “perfectly organized,” he emphasized.
The Israeli army indicated this Tuesday that some 85 projectiles were launched from Lebanon towards the city of Haifa and northern Israel.
Since October last year, more than 2,000 people have died in Lebanon and more than a thousand of them since September 23, according to an AFP count based on official figures. More than a million people have been forced to move.
“We defined the objectives of the war and we are on track to achieve them: overthrow Hamas (in Gaza), bring home all the hostages, both the living and the dead. This is a sacred mission and we will not stop until we achieve it” Netanyahu declared on Monday.
“October 7 will symbolize for (coming) generations the price of our rebirth, and will demonstrate to them our determination and the strength of our spirit,” he added.
The unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 on Israeli soil caused the deaths of 1,206 people in Israel, most of them civilians.
Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 97 are still held in Gaza, 34 of whom were declared dead by the Israeli army.
In response, Israel launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip, governed by Hamas, in which more than 41,900 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have already died, according to data from the Gaza Ministry of Health, which the UN considers reliable.
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