Israeli military expands ground operation in Lebanon to 15,000 troops

Israel has said it is expanding its ground operation in Lebanon with the deployment of a fourth division, bringing the likely number of troops to 15,000, after another night of intense airstrikes across the south and east of the country.

- Bethan McKernan

The reservist 146th division was sent to southern Lebanon overnight yesterday, hours after Israel announced the mobilisation of a third-standing division.

Launching what it called Operation Northern Arrows last week, the Israeli army said the ground offensive would involve “limited, localised and targeted raids” to remove Hezbollah infrastructure along the disputed de facto border between the two countries, known as the blue line.

However the rapid deployment of four divisions - alongside evacuation orders for coastal villages over 20 miles from the blue line and its intensive bombing of the country's south and east - suggests that Israel is preparing for a wider push north against the Lebanese militia.

In a defiant speech yesterday, Hezbollah's acting secretary general, Naim Qassem, said the group's capabilities were still functional despite two weeks of heavy Israeli airstrikes, including Beirut bombings that killed its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and much of its top command.

“You see that our daily accomplishments are great,” Qassem said. “Hundreds of rockets and dozens of aircraft [drones], a great number of [Israeli] settlements and cities have come under rocket fire… I would like to reassure you that our capabilities are fine.”

Hezbollah had replaced all of its senior commanders, he said, and Israeli ground troops had not made any advances after a week of fighting. However, Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had killed Hashem Safieddine, the man expected to replace Nasrallah. “We have degraded Hezbollah's capabilities,” Israel's prime minister said yesterday in a prerecorded message. “We took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah's replacement, and the replacement of the replacement.”