CQ: IDF Preparing Ground Incursion, Setting Table For Int'l Forces Contributed by Bill Faith
After successfully reducing Bint Jbeir and Maroun al-Ras, the IDF has amassed its forces at the border for more operations in southern Lebanon. With American diplomacy working towards an end to the fighting, the Israelis want to clear as much territory from Hezbollah as possible in the time remaining:
The IDF wrapped up its operations in the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbail on Saturday and withdrew most of its troops from the area. At the same time, the army was gearing up for a new ground incursion into Lebanon.
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It does not appear that Israel has contemplated an all-out occupation of the land south of the Litani. However, they do intend on trapping as many of Hezbollah's fighters between their airstrikes and their ground forces. Cutting off the road to Damascus ensures that Hezbollah will get little resupply from their Syrian patrons. It helps the Israelis force Hassan Nasrallah to run through his stores quickly, a pragmatic if disturbing manner to render them more impotent later on.
As David Horovitz explains in the Jerusalem Post, the initiative aims to in kneecapping Hezbollah for the peacekeepers that will surely come soon to southern Lebanon: