Israeli political and security chiefs have upped their warnings against Hezbollah in the last 24 hours, stressing that Israel is preparing for the possibility of an expanded campaign against Hezbollah should the group increase its attacks, as experts stressed that the party's main backer, Iran, is not interested in a full confrontation with Israel.
Missile, drone attacks and infiltration attempts into Israeli northern territory have increased since Oct. 7 following Hamas' attack, with a noticeable rise in tensions in the past week.
"We are preparing strongly with action plans for the north," said IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on Monday evening. "Our mission is to bring security."
Halevi made his statement following several incidents in the past two days on Israel’s northern border, including projectiles fired at Israel Monday morning that injured two Israelis. On Sunday, 14 Israeli civilians were injured when a Hezbollah missile struck a number of vehicles near the northern community of Dovev, close to the border with Lebanon. One of them died of his wounds on Monday. Later on Monday, IDF forces attacked missile-launching positions in Lebanon. The army also fired artillery at a squad that was trying to launch anti-tank missiles at Israel in the Shtula village area.
