Israel begins "limited ground operation" into Lebanon
As Israel’s ground operation in Lebanon began, the sounds of outgoing artillery fire, drones and helicopters rang through the air from a CNN team’s position close to the border.
Several explosions, plumes of smoke and flashes of light were also seen coming from the direction of the Lebanese village of Aadaysit Marjaayoun.
Hebrew statement by the Israeli military says it has begun a “limited ground operation” in southern Lebanon.
This appears to culminate a day of positioning for an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon.
Israel’s expected ground incursion into Lebanon will drive home a new strategic reality of a year of war — the once-mighty US is powerless to rein in its ally or to influence other major belligerents in a fast-worsening regional crisis.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on Monday launched the next stage of its onslaught against Hezbollah with what the Israel Defense Forces called a “limited ground operation” into Lebanon — despite weeks of requests from Washington for restraint and familiar (and spurned) calls for de-escalation.
This came just hours after President Joe Biden said “we should have a ceasefire now,” when asked what he knew about Israeli special forces’ previous raids into southern Lebanon. “I’m comfortable with them stopping,” the president said.
His comments only underscored the chasm between the US and Israeli governments on a day when Netanyahu told Iranians in a broadcast, “There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach.”
The disconnect is widening as it coincides with the endgame of a cliffhanger US election. Biden’s room for maneuver is limited if he is to avoid exacerbating the domestic political impact of war in the Middle East — a factor Netanyahu, a consummate operator in US politics, surely understands. The Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, has largely stuck to the administration line — despite earlier comments that suggested she might take a slightly harder rhetorical stance toward Netanyahu while emphasizing the plight of Palestinian civilians.
