By Emily Rose
JERUSALEM, March 6 (Reuters) – Israeli attacks against Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah group will likely continue after its joint air war with the U.S. against Iran ends, a source briefed on Israel’s military strategy told Reuters, describing the two fronts as unconnected.
Israel warned Lebanon before the war that it would strike the country hard if Hezbollah, the most powerful of Iran’s regional proxies, gets involved. On Monday, Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel, sparking Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and Lebanon’s east and south.
The military on Thursday warned Lebanese to leave Beirut’s southern suburbs after ordering them to clear a broad swathe of the south as it carries out air strikes that a military source said are aimed at “removing the threat” posed by Hezbollah.
Early on Friday, Hezbollah warned Israelis to leave towns near the border.
The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe Israel’s assessment of fighting with Hezbollah, said Israel would not tolerate residents of northern Israel, who have not evacuated their towns and villages, to be under fire. The source did not refer to the Hezbollah warning.
That meant that Israeli operations in Lebanon would likely continue even when the Iran strikes draw to a close, the source said. Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Two senior Lebanese security officials and a foreign security official based in Lebanon said they also expected Israel to pursue military operations in Lebanon even once the broader conflict with Iran came to a close.
“This is about ending Hezbollah once and for all,” one of the Lebanese security officials said, of the group, which held major sway over the Lebanese state before Israeli attacks in 2024 killed its leader and many of its fighters.
All three officials said a long-term Israeli military occupation of the entire border strip of southern Lebanon was likely.
Israel has said it will not evacuate its border towns and has sent more soldiers into Lebanon, saying this was a defensive measure meant to protect its citizens who live nearby.
The Lebanese health ministry has reported that 123 people have been killed and another 683 wounded as a result of Israeli attacks this week. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. and Israeli air attacks that began on Saturday had been projected to last four to five weeks but could go on longer.
(Reporting by Emily Rose in Jerusalem with additional reporting by Maya Gebeily in Beirut; editing by Rami Ayyub and Philippa Fletcher)
Comments