It was a threat, it is now a reality: Israel is conducting ground operations in Lebanon. Limited ground raids, localized and targeted according to the army, against Hezbollah infrastructure in the south of the country.
Israeli soldiers have effectively crossed Lebanon’s southern border. Images had been circulating for several days showing these tanks massed on the Israeli side. And finally, September 30the Lebanese discovered with astonishment the violation of their territory by the IDF.
On site, everyone expected this possible development, but the shock is still there. And, in addition to the ground invasion, Beirut was once again shaken in the night by bombings. Israel has bombed the southern suburbs numerous times and we could sometimes hear the explosions as far away as the center of the capital.
Why is the Israeli army raiding this location?
The southern zone is targeted because it is the sector where Hezbollah is best established. This area that Hezbollah can most easily reach northern Israel with potential airstrikes, especially Galilee.
Israel assures that caches of weapons or ammunition are found in this southern part of Lebanon. All of this is obviously unverifiable as things currently stand. There are weapons of course, but Israel has been striking all Shiite-majority villages for a week without the military objective of these strikes being verified by anyone. And we know that many civilians lost their lives.
As it stands, the number 2 of the Hezbollah party, Naïm Qassem, said that the movement would face any situation and that its men are ready if the Israelis decided to enter Lebanese lands. On site, the speech we hear from the mouths of some is that the resistance is ready to face the Israeli invader.
Refugees try to leave the country
According to residents who remained in this southern part of Lebanon and who were able to communicate with local media, the Lebanese army retreated a few kilometers from the southern border. Some speak of withdrawal of the army, others speak of repositioning. There has been movement, in any case, and for the moment, no official communication, simply eyewitnesses on site.
Many refugees are trying to cross the borders to leave the country. At the Syrian border, we saw hundreds of families crossing the borderwho finally left the war in Lebanon to return to the war in Syria, but who feared the intensity and regularity of Israel’s bombing of Lebanon.
Many Syrians have left through this border post, but also Lebanese who decide to leave the country. And there are still some civilians who are in the southern part of Lebanon. Impossible to quantify exactly how many there are.
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