ISRAEL is starting to call up its reserve troops as fears grow that a full-scale war invasion into Lebanon may be imminent.
A senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief has already announced they have been planning a ground offensive through the barrage of airstrikes in recent days.
RexIsrael is starting to call up thousands of reserve troops to head to Lebanon[/caption]
AFPAirstrikes in southern Lebanon have reportedly been used by Israel to help with their incoming ground offensive[/caption]
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, left, has already announced they have been planning for a ground offensive in LebanonIDF
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said: “You can hear the planes above, we are attacking all day.
“This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”
Halevi also sent out a chilling warning to “the enemy” telling them to expect a “very strong response” after they fired rockets into Israel.
He told Israeli troops they must defeat the Iran-backed group to allow for the safe return of residents to the north of Lebanon who have fled since the fighting started to increase.
A inspiring Halevi told his soldiers: “You will go in, destroy the enemy there, and decisively destroy their infrastructure.
“These are the things that will allow us to safely return the residents of the north afterward.”
It comes after fellow IDF commander Maj Gen Uri Gordon warned that a “new phase” of war is coming.
Part of this operation is said to involve the IDF making plans to activate two brigades consisting of up to 10,000 soldiers for “operational missions” in northern Lebanon.
The decision to prepare its troops reportedly came just hours after a Hezbollah-fired missile reached central Israel for the first time.
Hezbollah said it had targeted Israel’s Mossad spy agency on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
The White House labelled the reports of the rocket attack as “deeply concerning”.
The IDF claims to have then quickly blown up the launcher the rocket was sent from – releasing black and white airstrike footage of the swift retaliation.
The Iran-backed terror group have reportedly been stocking up on their weaponry in preparation for an escalation.
Iran is said to have particularity helped to bolster its arsenal by supplying light weapons, anti-tank missiles and long-range unguided missiles to Hezbollah, report US and regional sources.
A former Hezbollah officer described the south as “boiling,” as he claimed “we have everything the Iranians have”, say Ynet News.
Reports also suggest that Hezbollah has been expanding its tunnel network in southern Lebanon to help relocate fighters across the country.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah hinted at these preparations last week when he described the coming days as a “historic opportunity” for his men to fight against Israel.
In a chilling declaration he said: “We’re waiting for their tanks. When they come, they’re welcome.”
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri spoke out today on the potential horrors awaiting his country if the fighting continues.
He called the next 24 hours “critical” in determining if Israel will go ahead with an invasion.
Ongoing diplomatic talks to bring a halt to the war are desperately ongoing as nations such as the US and France try to help draft up a ceasefire agreement.
Reuters A woman sits on a beach in Lebanon as smoke billows from Israeli strikes[/caption]
AFPThousands of civilians have been forced to flee from the Lebanon border[/caption]
Israel are looking to push Hezbollah terrorists away from the Lebanese border through the continuous strikes on the country.
They have vowed to press on with their “extensive waves” of attacks as they look to eliminate “terrorist targets”.
They hit a huge number of Hezbollah targets on Monday and Tuesday which killed hundreds.
Many of the targets were civilian homes allegedly being used to store rockets.
This led to thousands being forced to evacuate their homes and seek safety near to the capital of Beirut.
US officials told CNN that Hezbollah has been significantly weakened by the attacks.
Israel has wiped out most of the terror group’s leadership in targeted strikes, including Ibrahim Aqil who was killed in an IDF blast on southern Beirut on Friday.
They say they have taken the militant group backwards by about 20 years.
The UK and the US have also stepped up rescue operations in the region for its citizens as an all-out-war teeters closer.
British plans for “Operation Meteoric” have reportedly been drawn up which will see 10,000 citizens evacuated from Lebanon.
Defence chiefs have also moved 700 troops to Cyprus to join up with hundreds of British forces already on the Mediterranean island.
The unrelenting fighting has also prompted the US to send even more troops close to the war-torn region.
The Department of Defense announced on Monday that “additional” service members will be joining up with the 40,000 fighters already in the Middle East.
Pager and walkie-talkie strike
The spike in fighting follows the coordinated pager and walkie-talkie blitz last week with Israel sabotaging communications devices.
The attacks were aimed at Hezbollah and hit the terror group’s fighters and civilians in Lebanon and Syria.
The strikes, which hit Tuesday and Wednesday last week, killed at least 39 and left thousands more injured.
Doctors in Lebanon have been overwhelmed by casualties after two waves of blasts – with many left blinded.
Skilled physicians say they have never had to surgically remove more eyes before as Hezbollah’s boss labelled the strikes a possible “declaration of war” from Israel.
One of those injured was the Iranian envoy to the country who has reportedly lost an eye.
Hezbollah’s boss Hassan Nasrallah said the group intends to seek revenge for the attacks that “crossed over all the red lines” and will not stop until the war in Gaza ends.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said he “condemned the terrorist act of the Zionist regime… as an example of mass murder”.
Israel reportedly planted the explosives inside the pagers in a years’ long operation that involved firms in Taiwan and Hungary.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps has ordered all members to stop using any types of communication devices, Reuters reports.
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Marjayoun, near the Lebanon-Israel border
EPAIsrael has also hit homes in the Lebanese capital Beirut[/caption]
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