The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation “Kan,” citing two informed sources, stated that Israel is seriously considering launching a military operation inside Lebanese territory, with the aim of what it calls “combating the Hezbollah threat,” after having been content with launching limited airstrikes.
According to a report prepared by journalist Suleiman Maswadeh and broadcast by “Kan” in its news bulletin, this trend appears as a result of Israeli assessments that “Hezbollah” has managed, taking advantage of the truce, to rebuild part of its military force, while Tel Aviv considers that the Lebanese government is unable to confront it or impose its control over it.
The report also indicated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed with US President Donald Trump in Florida, earlier in the week, the issue of expanding Israeli operations in Lebanon, in the context of discussions about the future of the northern front.
“Kan” quoted its sources as saying that the US administration does not rule out an Israeli operation against “Hezbollah,” but it asked Netanyahu to postpone the final decision, to allow for more political contacts with the Lebanese government and try to exhaust all diplomatic solutions.
In the same context, the report recalled what was published by the Saudi newspaper “Al-Sharq Al-Awsat,” which stated that Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey had sent direct messages to “Hezbollah” urging it to give up its weapons to avoid a large-scale Israeli military operation in Lebanon. According to Lebanese government sources, these messages were described as “a last chance advice.”
The report also recalled what “Kan” revealed about a month ago, about the Israeli army preparing a plan to launch a large-scale attack on targets belonging to “Hezbollah,” in the event that the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army fail to disarm the party. At the time, a senior Israeli security official was quoted as saying that the United States had been informed that Israel would take it upon itself to dismantle Hezbollah’s capabilities if this was not done effectively from within Lebanon, even if it required days of fighting or renewed confrontations on the northern front.
This escalation in Israeli assessments comes in light of a fragile internal Lebanese situation and continuous tension on the southern border, which makes any potential military decision carry major security and political repercussions for Lebanon and the region.
