Israel Hints At Lebanon Ground Invasion As Joe Biden Warns Of "All Out War"
Israel has told its soldiers to prepare for a possible ground operation against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon as US President Joe Biden warned against "all-out war" in the Middle East.
- Israel's army chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, told a tank brigade that they are "attacking" Lebanon to prepare the ground for the possibility of their entry into Lebanon, according to a statement on Wednesday,
- The Israeli military said it hit more than 2,000 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon over the past three days.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel's military operations against Hezbollah would not stop until northern residents displaced by cross-border clashes could safely return to their homes.
- Israel's warnings came after Hezbollah said it had targeted Israel's Mossad spy agency headquarters on Tel Aviv's outskirts -- the first time it has fired a ballistic missile in almost a year of cross-border clashes sparked by the Gaza war.
- Israel's close ally, the United States, said it did not think Israeli troops' ground operation in Lebanon is "imminent". "It doesn't look like something is imminent," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters. US President Joe Biden, however, warned of the possibility of "all-out war" in the Middle East. "An all-out war is possible," he told a news channel.
- The US, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and some other partner nations called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border, according to a joint statement of the countries released late on Wednesday.
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and warned, "Hell is breaking loose."
- Iran, Hezbollah's main backer, condemned Israel's raids and said the Middle East was facing a "full-scale catastrophe". It also warned that Tehran would back Lebanon by "all means" if Israel escalated its offensive.
- India issued an advisory "strongly" urging Indians against travelling to Lebanon till further notice. The Indian Embassy in Beirut also advised the Indian nationals residing in Lebanon to leave the country and further advised the people to exercise "extreme caution".
- Israel and Hezbollah members have been fighting across the Lebanese border after the war in Gaza erupted when Hamas, a Hezbollah ally also backed by Iran, attacked Israeli towns on October 7 last year.
