IDF Making Preparations for a Ground Operation in Lebanon

Amidst talk about a cease-fire between Israel and the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah that is being discussed primarily by the US and France at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, the IDF is preparing for all scenarios.

IDF chief of Staff Herzi Halevi visited troops in the Galilee on Wednesday, telling them “You can hear the jets above, we are attacking all day. Both to prepare the area for the possibility of your entry into Lebanon and also to continue causing blows to Hezbollah...The goal is a very clear goal, to return the residents of the north safely.”

IDF Northern Commander Maj. Gen. Uri Gordon added some of his own words in this respect, telling his troops that "we need to be very ready to go into action and to invade".

"We have entered a new phase in the conflict, and now we are fighting as part of Operation Northern Arrows." "The operation began with very harsh strikes against Hezbollah's capabilities, with an emphasis on its [long-range] firepower, as well as significant harm to its commanders and operatives."

Meanwhile, sources in Hezbollah admitted to journalists on Wednesday that as many as 1,500 of their combat troops were put out of action, most of them permanently, because of injuries they suffered in last week's pager and walkie talkie attacks. IDF sources have also confirmed that Hezbollah has sustained great damage to its stocks of long-range and precision-guided rockets and missiles, as well as other strategic weapons. But sources in both Hezbollah and Israel have said that this war is just beginning and the end is impossible to predict.