By Emily Crane | New York Post
Israeli special forces have been carrying out intelligence-gathering raids in Lebanon ahead of an expected ground incursion in the coming days, according to reports Monday.
The raids, which have been unfolding for several months, have included targeting Hezbollah’s tunnels on the southern border amid preparation for a broader ground incursion, sources told the Wall Street Journal.
“The IDF has made a lot of preparations for a ground incursion,” Amir Avivi, a former senior Israeli military official still getting briefings, told the outlet. “Overall, this always includes special operations. This is part of the process.”
It comes as Israeli tanks were seen lining up close to the border with Lebanon, with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant hinting Monday that a ground operation against Hezbollah was imminent.
“Together with the fighters of the 188th Brigade on the northern border — the forces are ready and prepared to strike Hezbollah with force,” Gallant wrote in a post on X.
“Our goal is clear – returning the residents of the north to their homes. We will use all the means at our disposal to achieve this goal.”
Hezbollah also expects a ground invasion, the terror group’s deputy leader Naim Qassem said in his first remarks since Israel killed its chief Hassan Nasrallah last week.
“We will face any possibility and we are ready if the Israelis decide to enter by land and the resistance forces are ready for a ground engagement,” he said in an address from an undisclosed location.
Qassem’s remarks came as Israeli airstrikes on targets in Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon raged on – extending a two-week onslaught of attacks that have eliminated at least seven Hezbollah commanders.
Despite the heavy blow Hezbollah has suffered, a defiant Qassem vowed the terror group was prepared for a long fight and said the commanders killed have already been replaced.
“Israel was not able to affect our [military] capabilities,” he said. “There are deputy commanders and there are replacements in case a commander is wounded in any post.”
He added that Hezbollah’s fighters had continued to fire rockets as deep as 93 miles into Israeli territory amid escalating tensions
“What we are doing is the bare minimum… We know that the battle may be long,” Qassem said.
In the past week, Israel has frequently targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence — including the massive strike on Friday that killed Nasrallah.
An airstrike early Monday targeted an apartment building in central Beirut – killing three Palestinian leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation.
A Hamas leader, Fatah Sharif, was also killed alongside his family in an Israeli airstrike in the southern city of Tyre, the terror group said.
With Post wires
