Israel to intensify strikes against Hezbollah: IDF chief

Jerusalem: Israeli forces “are carefully planning the coming days” and their attacks against Hezbollah will intensify, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi has said.

Israeli forces have killed over 600 militants, “including dozens of Hezbollah’s top military leaders,” since the onset of the Gaza conflict last year, and have struck “hundreds” of targets in Lebanon recently, weakening Hezbollah’s launch and combat capabilities, Halevi said on Sunday in a televised speech from the Tel Nof Airbase, a principal airbase of the Israeli Air Force.

“The price Hezbollah is paying is increasing, and our strikes will intensify,” Halevi was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.

“We have many more capabilities yet to deploy, and we are in a very high state of readiness, both offensively and defensively,” he said.

Meanwhile, Halevi claimed that the Israeli airstrike on a building in Beirut’s southern suburb on Friday has “eliminated” Hezbollah’s chain of command.

The building was bombed by Israeli warplanes when Hezbollah commanders were planning in it an attack on northern Israel aimed at killing civilians and kidnapping soldiers, he claimed.

“We will ensure the safety of those (displaced Israelis) returning (to their home along the border), and if Hezbollah hasn’t understood this yet, they will continue to face blow after blow until they do,” he said.

Tension along the Israel-Lebanon border has escalated sharply following communication device explosions across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday that killed 37 people and injured 2,931, as well as an Israeli airstrike on Friday targeting a building in the Jamous area in the southern suburbs of Beirut that killed 45 and injured dozens more.

The Israeli army and Hezbollah, which has deep ties to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, have been exchanging fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since Oct. 8, 2023, raising fears that the nearly one-year-long confrontations could escalate into a full-scale war.