Israel hints at Lebanon ground incursion

Hezbollah says it is ready to face 'enemy'

WASHINGTON/BEIRUT/ JERUSALEM,:

Indications grew on Monday that Israel was on the verge of sending ground troops into Lebanon, two weeks into an assault on Hezbollah that culminated in the assassination of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

A US official who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters the positioning of Israeli troops suggested a ground incursion could be imminent. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told local council heads in northern Israel that the next phase of the war along Lebanon's southern border would begin soon, and support the aim of bringing home Israelis who have fled Hezbollah rockets during nearly a year of border warfare.

He also told troops: "We will use all the means that may be required - your forces, other forces, from the air, from the sea, and on land. Good luck."

Amal Al-Hourani, mayor of Jdeidet Marjayoun, a Christian-majority Lebanese village less than 10km (6 miles) from the border, told Reuters that two locals had received calls apparently from the Israeli army telling them to evacuate the area as soon as possible.

Friday's assassination of Nasrallah - the most powerful leader in Tehran's "Axis of Resistance" against Israeli and US interests in the Middle East - was one of the heaviest blows in decades to both Hezbollah and Iran. After two weeks of intensive airstrikes and a string of assassinations of Hezbollah commanders, Israel has suggested ever more strongly that a land invasion is looming.

The Washington Post cited an unidentified US official as saying Israel had already told the US the operation would be smaller than its 2006 war against Hezbollah and focus on border security. Asked about the reports, US President Joe Biden, who has so far had little success urging Israel to rein in its assaults on Hezbollah or on Hamas in Gaza, called for a ceasefire. "I'm comfortable with them stopping," he told reporters.

Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem, in a first public speech since Israeli airstrikes killed Nasrallah, said that "the resistance forces are ready for a ground engagement".

As he spoke, Israeli airstrikes in Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon continued, extending a campaign that has eliminated several Hezbollah commanders but also killed about 1,000 civilians and forced one million to flee their homes, according to the Lebanese government