Israeli army says it is preparing for a “decisive offensive” against Lebanese Hezbollah

The threat is becoming more precise. An Israeli army commander said Friday, July 26, that troops in the north of the country, where Israel borders Lebanon, were preparing for a “decisive offensive” against Hezbollah. The Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been exchanging fire almost daily since the October 7 attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.

“We have already eliminated more than 500 terrorists in Lebanon, the vast majority of them belonging to Hezbollah,” Israeli General Ori Gordin told soldiers during a trip to the north, according to an army statement. Israeli troops in the north are currently operating to protect the residents of that part of the country and “preparing the transition to the offensive”added Ori Gordin. “When the time comes and we go on the offensive, it will be a decisive offensive”the general continued.

Iran-backed Hezbollah says its attacks on Israel since October 8 are aimed at bolstering its ally Hamas. Tens of thousands of residents have since been displaced in Lebanon and Israel by the surge in cross-border violence.