Israeli forces have conducted small raids into southern Lebanon ahead of what could be a much larger ground invasion.
Israeli commando units have sneaked across the border into Lebanon in recent days to gather intelligence about Hezbollah's positions, tunnels, and military infrastructure, according to the New York Times. The raids are meant to provide necessary intelligence for a possible wider ground invasion.
Israel has told the U.S. that the operations “are limited operations focused on Hezbollah infrastructure near the border,” according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
While the U.S. still opposes an all-out war, a U.S. official told CNN that the administration thinks Israel could expand its ground operations in southern Lebanon sooner than originally planned.
"The next phase in the war against Hezbollah will begin soon and will be a significant factor in achieving the goal of the war — returning the residents of the north to their homes," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.
Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in a limited war since last October, but Israeli forces have significantly escalated the scope of their attacks since the beginning of September in an attempt to force Hezbollah to stop its attacks on northern Israel. Israeli forces have largely decapitated Hezbollah's senior ranks, including Hassan Nasrallah , but Hezbollah has still been able to launch rockets and missiles into Israel.
Israel's intensified strikes have targeted Hezbollah's infrastructure, arsenal, and leadership, but as many as a million Lebanese civilians have been displaced from the south, according to Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Israeli leaders have said their goal in their military efforts against Hezbollah is to allow for the more than 50,000 people who evacuated from northern Israel to return to their homes. They were evacuated after Hezbollah started launching projectiles into northern Israel on Oct. 8 in the aftermath of Hamas's massive terrorist attack a day earlier in southern Israel.
The U.S. and several other governments have pushed for Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a three-week-long ceasefire to allow diplomatic efforts time to work, but neither side has appeared interested in such a move.
President Joe Biden and his administration have desperately sought to avoid a wider conflict that could draw U.S. forces into it. The administration does not believe an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon is the most effective way to get those families back into their homes. Despite that, Biden called Nasrallah's assassination a "measure of justice for his many victims."
Israeli forces carried out the airstrikes that killed Nasrallah last Friday, which marked a pivotal moment in the conflict, given his more than three decades leading Iran's most impressive militant group. His killing has raised the tension in the region even more, with eyes on Iran to see how and if it responds militarily to Israel.
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Israel has sought to prevent Iran from coming to Hezbollah's aid with strikes in Syria, as the war-torn country sits between Lebanon and Iran. Lebanon's transport ministry told an aircraft from Iran not to enter its airspace after Israel's military warned air traffic control that it would use "force" against the plane if it landed, according to Reuters.
Israel last militarily occupied southern Lebanon in 2006, during a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah.
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