Israel has said it is expanding its ground operation in Lebanon with the deployment of a fourth division after another night of intense airstrikes across the south and east of the country.
The reservist 146th division was sent to southern Lebanon overnight on Tuesday, hours after Israel announced the mobilisation of a third standing division, meaning the number of troops on the ground is now likely to number 15,000.
Launching what it has called Operation Northern Arrows last week, the Israeli army said the ground offensive would involve “limited, localised and targeted raids” to remove Hezbollah infrastructure along the disputed de facto border between the two countries.
The rapid deployment of four divisions operating across south Lebanon, alongside evacuation orders for Lebanese villages upwards of 20 miles from the blue line and the intensive bombing of the country’s south, east and the capital, suggests however that Israel is preparing for a wider offensive against the Lebanese militia.
In a defiant speech on Tuesday, Hezbollah’s acting secretary general, Naim Qassem, said the group’s military capabilities were still functional despite two weeks of heavy Israeli airstrikes, including Beirut bombings that killed the group’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah and much of the militia’s top command.
“You see that our daily accomplishments are great. Hundreds of rockets and dozens of aircraft [drones], a great number of [Israeli] settlements and cities have come under rocket fire … I would like to reassure you that our capabilities are fine,” he said.
Hezbollah had replaced all of its senior commanders, he said, and Israel ground troops had not made any advances after a week of fighting.
The IDF said on Tuesday that it had killed Suhail Husseini, responsible for overseeing logistics, budget and management, the night before. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah, but about 85 projectiles were launched towards Israel from Lebanon on Tuesday morning.
Two Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut’s Shia-majority southern suburbs almost immediately after Qassem’s speech.
At least 1,400 Lebanese people, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million – around a quarter of the population – have been driven from their homes since fighting escalated three weeks ago.
Israel says the operation’s goal is to allow approximately 60,000 displaced people to return to their homes across northern Israel after a year of simmering cross-border fighting.
Hezbollah began firing on Israel in solidarity with its Palestinian allies a day after Hamas’s 7 October attack last year that triggered the new war in Gaza and now threatens to drag in Iran and the US.
The region is still waiting for Israel’s response to an unprecedented missile attack from Iran last week launched in support of its ally Hezbollah.
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said in an interview with CNN late on Monday: “Everything is on the table. Israel has capabilities to hit targets near and far – we have proved it.”
Israel is consulting with Washington, its most important ally, over how to retaliate against Tehran without triggering an even stronger response. The New York Times, citing US officials, said the US believed Israel would prioritise attacking military bases and intelligence sites before nuclear facilities.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, warned on Monday against a new Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic.
Fighting also continues to rage in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes killed 17 people in a refugee camp in the centre of the Palestinian territory on Tuesday, medics said.
Abu Obeida, a spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing, said in a speech on the anniversary of the 7 October attack that the group would “keep up the fight in a long war of attrition, one that is painful and costly for the enemy”.