Hezbollah in its sights

Israel now officially threatens ground offensive

The situation in Lebanon is coming to a head.

(Bild: AFP/Rabih DAHER)

Following the first launch of a Hezbollah rocket at Tel Aviv, the Israeli army is threatening a ground offensive in Lebanon. To this end, the infrastructure of the radical Islamic militia is to be destroyed first, said Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi on Wednesday. 

An Israeli military spokesperson described the rocket launch as an "escalation". "It is the very first time that a Hezbollah rocket has reached the Tel Aviv area." Hezbollah was "clearly trying to escalate the situation". The pro-Iranian militia had previously declared that it had fired a Kader 1 rocket "targeting the Mossad headquarters on the outskirts of Tel Aviv".

Retaliation for pager explosions
The headquarters of the Israeli foreign intelligence service was "responsible for the assassination of executives and the explosion of pagers and wireless devices". These explosions killed 39 people and injured almost 3,000 others at the beginning of last week.

In view of the ongoing fighting with Hezbollah, the Israeli military ordered two reserve brigades to the north of the country. "The IDF is calling up two reserve brigades for operational missions in the northern region," the armed forces announced on Wednesday. "This will make it possible to continue the fight against the Hezbollah terrorist organization, defend the State of Israel and create the conditions for the return of the residents of northern Israel to their homes," it continued.

Concerns about a new Gaza
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council wanted to deal with the situation in Lebanon in an emergency meeting. UN Secretary-General António Guterres also wanted to attend the meeting at 6 p.m. local time (Thursday 0 a.m. CEST). At the start of the general debate of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, he warned that everything must be done "to prevent Lebanon from becoming another Gaza".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will also speak at the general debate, postponed his departure to New York until Thursday, according to his office. He had announced on Tuesday that Israel would "continue to attack Hezbollah".

Meanwhile, the spiritual leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in Tehran that the targeted killing of Hezbollah commanders by Israel would "not bring the militia to its knees". The "authority, capabilities and strength" of Hezbollah "cannot be seriously affected by the loss of these martyrs", said Khamenei.