Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided the IDF will carry out its military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon with a “phased” approach, according to a report late Monday night by Israel’s KAN 11 News public broadcaster.
Having been offered two options for the attack on Iran’s proxy north of the Israeli-Lebanese border, the prime minister chose a gradual execution of the planned operations.
According to the report, Israel informed the United States prior to Monday’s launch of Operation Northern Arrows. The news outlet reported the the White House gave a green light for the attack, realizing it is not possible at this point to reach a diplomatic agreement that would lead to a ceasefire in the north and the return of residents who were forced to leave their homes for their own safety nearly a year ago.
Nevertheless, the US expressed opposition to a potential Israeli ground maneuver in southern Lebanon aimed at forcing Hezbollah to relocate north of the Litani River in accordance with the ceasefire agreement that ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701. The agreement was ignored from the start by Hezbollah, by the Lebanese government and by the so-called “UN peacekeepers” stationed in Lebanon, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Israeli fighter pilots and other forces destroyed more than 1,300 Hezbollah targets in the first day of the operation.
The Lebanese Health Ministry reported late Monday night that the death toll from the day’s operations had reached 492, with 1,645 others wounded, but did not specify how many of those casualties were members of the country’s Iranian proxy, Hezbollah.
