ISRAEL is warning of a “huge attack” against Lebanon in the coming hours and has warned locals to get away from Hezbollah.
The IDF said it is carrying out “extensive strikes” against the terror group after last week’s pager sabotage as US officials believe an invasion is imminent.
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The Israeli Air Force is expected to launch the massive blitz across southern Lebanon on a “huge scale” in the early afternoon today.
One source told Israeli news outlet Ynet that people could consider the fighting the “Third Lebanon War”.
Israel warned Lebanese civilians living near Hezbollah and its caches of missiles, guns and ammo to flee.
Civilians have heard the message through hacked radios, text messages, and phone calls giving them two hours to get away from Iran’s proxy.
The text message read, according to local media: “If you are in a building housing weapons for Hezbollah, move away from the village until further notice.”
In a video, IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi threatened that attacks would increase until Hezbollah stopped attacking the country.
He vowed residents in the north of the country would be able to return safely home after tens of thousands had evacuated.
Halevi said: “We will safely return the residents to their homes, and if Hezbollah has not understood this yet, it will get another blow and another blow — until the organisation understands.”
He also warned the country has “many more capabilities that we have not yet activated” and is at a “high level of readiness”.
Warplanes carried out new bombing raids this morning on towns along Lebanon’s southern border injuring dozens.
The fresh strikes come after heavy exchanges last week with Israel launching its most intense blitz of the war and bombing an apartment building.
On Sunday, Hezbollah launched around 150 rockets and missiles into Israel in retaliation for strikes that killed top commanders Friday.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said citizens will have to “show composure” to “achieve our goal to return the northern residents safely to their homes”.
It comes as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps has ordered all members to stop using any types of communication devices, Reuters reports.
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Reports claimed 19 of the elite paramilitary branch’s soldiers in Syria were injured in last week’s pager strikes.
The guards have also launched an investigation of its own members to try and root out any spying for Israel.
The Wall Street Journal last week reported US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has told senior Pentagon officials he feared Israel could soon invade.
However, Israeli officials have denied that it will.
The spike in fighting follows the coordinated pager and walkie-talkie blitz last week which hit fighters and civilians and 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.
Hassan Nasrallah added 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.
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Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire across the Israeli-Lebanon border in parallel with the war Israel has waged in Gaza against Hamas after October 7.
Hezbollah has named 497 members killed by Israel during the ongoing fighting since October, including troops lost during this week’s pager and walkie-talkie strike.
The group was said to be “rudderless” and in disarray” after all its fighters killed and losing one means of communication.
Recent attacks have even placed the British military on high alert to launch an emergency evacuation for those trapped in Lebanon with two ships also on standby in the region.
A defence source told The Telegraph the British government “stands prepared” to pull Brits to safety if the situation explodes.
Foreign secretary David Lammy outlined the preparations in an emergency Cobra meeting.
He warned Brits living in Lebanon to leave immediately while “commercial options remain”.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided the West Bank bureau of Al-Jazeera, which it had banned earlier this year, accusing it of serving as a mouthpiece for militant groups, allegations denied by the pan-Arab broadcaster.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire across the Israeli-Lebanon border in parallel with the war Israel has waged in Gaza against Hamas after October 7.
Tens of thousands of people have had to flee the border area on both sides.
Hezbollah have reportedly killed 26 civilians and 20 soldiers and forced another 80,000 Israelis to head south to escape the blitz.
Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday to return the evacuated Israelis “securely to their homes”.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant last week declared the start of a “new phase” of war as the country’s army moved north.
Rami Mortada, Lebanon’s ambassador to the UK, told The Times an Israeli invasion would be a “doomsday scenario”.
He said: “We are facing all the risks of an all-out regional conflict and that’s what we have been tirelessly trying to avoid.
“Let’s hope that we don’t get there because this is a doomsday scenario for everyone. It’s definitely a doomsday for Lebanon but Lebanon will not hurt alone in this war.”
Who was Ibrahim Aqil?
SLAIN Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil was regarded as the second in command of the Iran backed militia.
He was slain in an airstrike on a apartment building on Friday.
At least 37 people were killed with another 68 wounded in Beirut, Lebanon’s health ministry announced.
Aqil also sat on the Jihad Council which is seen as the highest military body for Hezbollah members.
He was believed to had have a $7million bounty placed on him by the US after his alleged involvement in a terrorist bombing in 1983.
The Islamic Jihad Organization attacked the US Embassy in Beirut and killed 63 people.
A few months later another bombing on a US Marines barracks in the capital led to the tragic deaths of 241 Americans.
Aqil was seen a key member of the terror group at the time.
The US Department of State also say he had been involved in a number of other terror related plots as well as kidnapping US and German hostages in the 1980s.
They labelled him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2019 and offered the bounty in return for information on the commander.
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