Israel has deployed its forces for a fast ground operation in Lebanon after the army mobilized reserves to support operations that targeted Hezbollah. This new round of air strikes, now in its third day, seeks to open the way “for your entry,” Herzi Halevi told soldiers in northern Israel. This is the first time there is such an open indication of airborne preparations for a ground operation against the Iran-aligned group after air raids dramatically stepped up this week.

”We are rehearsing the process of a maneuver, which means your military boots will go into the hostile territory and into the villages which the Hezbollah has turned into military strong points,” Halevi continued. In response, Hezbollah said that it had increased its range of fire and fired one of its missiles at the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad spy agency in Tel Aviv. The Israeli army said that two brigades of reserves had been mobilized to the north to fight the Shia militia group Hezbollah and help refugees.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the willingness of the government to repatriate the displaced citizens to the north while saying that Hezbollah is being hit ‘harder than it could fathom.’ He stressed the promise to ensure that residents are brought back safely. While this, Lebanon’s health minister said at least 51 were killed on Wednesday, and the death toll from three days of strikes has risen to 615, with more than 2,000 wounded.

Hezbollah launched dozens of missiles toward Israel and a more sophisticated projectile that activated air alert sirens in Tel Aviv and other parts of central Israel. This meant the first time a rocket was getting into central areas, though it was shot down with no reported human losses. Hezbollah also said it had attacked the Mossad HQ because Israel had assassinated some of its big guns. In turn, the Israelis attacked the spot of the missile launching in South Lebanon.

More than 90,000 people have left southern Lebanon for the north due to the intensified conflict – IOM. Cars full of escaping people have created queues, and towns in the south have emptied. At the same time, NGOs have raised a need for blood donors and used schools as shelters; according to the IOM, WHO and the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health are continuing to plan and operationalize mass casualty events while providing crucial health services with severely depleted stock levels.

The exchanges of fire have sparked concern amongst leaders in other countries, bringing about diplomatic activities. U.S. President Joe Biden warned of a possible full-scale conflict, but there is still hope for negotiations. “You can have an all-out conflict,” he said on ABC’s The View show, “but you can also have a decisive negotiation that can alter the region.”

The US has embarked on a new diplomatic process aimed at halting hostilities in Gaza and Lebanon, which were previously related in a single process. This process is going on at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and for the first time, a linkage between the two fronts has been made in American diplomacy.

Hezbollah and Israel have been targeting each other with rockets nearly daily since the start of the Israeli attack on Gaza on October 7, to which Lebanon is experiencing displacement near the border. While previous exchanges were limited primarily to strictly military objectives, tensions rose further when Israel gave the signal that it would expand its operations to this region at its northern border. 

About 160 communication devices of Hezbollah exploded last week and caused 42 human killings and more than 3,000 injuries. To the present, Israel has not claimed or denied responsibility for the attacks, but this week, it targeted Hezbollah’s leadership, eliminating its main officers.