(Jerusalem) An Israeli army commander said Friday that troops in the north of the country, where Israel borders Lebanon, were preparing for a “decisive offensive” against Hezbollah, after months of cross-border firefights.
The Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been exchanging fire almost daily since the attack on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.
In a speech during a trip to the north, Israeli General Ori Gordin told soldiers: “We have already eliminated more than 500 terrorists in Lebanon, the vast majority of them belonging to Hezbollah,” according to an army statement.
Israeli troops in the north are currently operating to protect residents of that part of the country and “prepare for the transition to the offensive,” added General Gordin, commander of Israeli forces in the north.
“When the time comes and we go on the offensive, it will be a decisive offensive,” he said. The violence since October 8 between the Israeli army and Hezbollah has left at least 523 dead in Lebanon, the majority of them fighters, according to a report established by AFP from different sources.
Most of them, 342 people, were confirmed to be Hezbollah fighters, but the toll also included 104 civilians. Mr. Gordin did not mention civilian casualties. In northern Israel, at least 18 Israeli soldiers and 13 civilians were killed, according to the army.
Iran-backed Hezbollah says its attacks on Israel since October 8 are aimed at supporting its ally Hamas.
Tens of thousands of residents have since been displaced in Lebanon and Israel due to the outbreak of cross-border violence.
Gaza women’s ‘voices’ brought to UN Security Council
“I am forced to watch my child starve to death”: A UN official spoke to the Security Council on Friday as the voice of Gaza’s women and children, describing a situation that “will haunt us all” for generations.
“Let me share some voices from Gaza,” Muhannad Hadi, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the Middle East, told a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Palestinian territory via video from Jerusalem.
“In my shelter I hear women calling for help all night long”, “we wake up every day just to look for food and water”, “I spent 4 months without taking a shower”, “we have to cut our hair because of lice and the lack of shampoo”…
“This is a sample of what women told me when I met them in Deir al-Balah (central Gaza Strip) on July 9,” the UN official said.
“Many women say they have suicidal thoughts. And their greatest suffering, especially as a parent, is not being able to protect their children,” he added.
“Thousands of these children have suffered horrific injuries, including third-degree burns, amputation of limbs, and profound psychological trauma.”
And those who do not survive die, “often slowly and painfully,” he insisted.
“The human impact of this conflict cannot be overstated. This impact will haunt us all, not for years, but for generations,” warned Muhannad Hadi, calling for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages.