Israeli troops on alert to go into Lebanon

Israel’s army chief told soldiers Wednesday to prepare for a possible ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon as US President Joe Biden warned against “all-out war” in the Middle East.

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.

“We are attacking all day, both to prepare the ground for the possibility of your entry, but also to continue striking Hezbollah,” Israel’s army chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, told a tank brigade, according to a statement.

The United States said it did not think Israel, its close ally, would launch a ground operation in Lebanon any time soon, however.

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“It doesn’t look like something is imminent,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists, referring to a possible Israeli incursion.

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.

Lebanon said Israeli strikes killed 51 people and injured 223.

The Israeli military said it hit more than 2,000 Hezbollah targets over the past three days, including 60 Hezbollah intelligence sites.

In Washington, President Biden warned of the possibility of “all-out war” after Israel’s troops were put on alert for a possible ground operation.

“An all-out war is possible,” Biden told broadcaster ABC.

“What I think is, also, the opportunity is still in play to have a settlement that could fundamentally change the whole region.”

Biden added there was a “possibility” of a Lebanon ceasefire, but “I don’t want to exaggerate it”.

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Cross-border clashes intensified after Israeli raids on Monday killed at least 558 people in the deadliest day of violence in Lebanon since its 1975-90 civil war.

Nour Hamad, a 22-year-old student in the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, described living “in a state of terror” all week.

“We spent four or five days without sleep, not knowing if we will wake up in the morning,” she said.

In Tel Aviv, sirens sounded following Hezbollah’s unprecedented missile launch at dawn.

Tel Aviv resident Hedva Fadlon, 61, told AFP: “The situation is difficult. We feel the pressure and the tension… I don’t think anyone in the world would like to live like this.”

The Israeli military said hundreds of targets had been struck across Lebanon on Wednesday.

“Fighter jets struck 60 terrorist targets belonging to Hezbollah’s intelligence directorate,” the army said.

It said two reserve brigades were being called up “for operational missions in the northern arena”, adding this would “enable the continuation of combat against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation”.

The pro-Iran Islamic Resistance in Iraq group said it attacked Israel’s Red Sea port of Eilat on Wednesday as another group urged more attacks amid soaring tensions over Gaza and Lebanon.

Israel’s military said it intercepted a drone approaching Eilat and that another fell in the area. It reported two minor injuries.