The Israeli offensive in Lebanon is intensifying. “We are now living everything we heard from our grandparents about the occupation”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Monday that the military had launched a “ground maneuver” in southern Lebanon against Iran-backed Shiite militia Hezbollah, in what The New York Times (NYT) described as a de facto extension of the invasion. Israel has warned that displaced Lebanese will not be able to return to their homes until the safety of Israelis living in the border area is ensured, Reuters also wrote.
For days, Israeli forces have been gradually expanding the buffer zone they control in southern Lebanon before intensifying the attack. It is currently unclear how far the troops were ordered to advance.
In Lebanon, more than 800,000 people have fled their homes since the Middle East war broke out, and many will not be able to return to their homes until the safety of Israelis living in communities near the border is “guaranteed,” Minister Israel Katz said Monday.
Fears among Lebanese communities in the border area
The expansion of Israeli operations has heightened the fears of Lebanese in the border area. Iman Ibrahim, 30, a woman who fled her village of Blida when hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah escalated this month, is worried that Israel is preparing the ground to occupy parts of southern Lebanon, as it did after the 1982 invasion.
The Israeli army issued evacuation orders covering an area up to 40 kilometers from the border, and Minister Israel Katz warned that Lebanon could face territorial losses if Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite group founded by Lebanon's Revolutionary Guards in 1982, is not disarmed.
“I feel this is preparation for an occupation, and I fear history will repeat itself,” Ibrahim told the NYT. “Everything we used to hear from our grandparents about the occupation we are experiencing now,” the woman added.
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, told a press briefing on Monday that his country intends to continue attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon, but is open to possible talks with the Lebanese government to stop the fighting.
There have been mediation efforts between Israel and Lebanon, but “talks can happen and you can make them effective when you degrade the enemy's capabilities,” Danon argues.
