After days of airstrikes, commanders in the Israeli military have told troops to get ready for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon. "We need to be very ready to go into action and to invade," Israel Defense Forces Northern Commander Maj. Gen. Uri Gordon told the military's Brigade 7 on Wednesday, per the Jerusalem Post. It's not clear when the ground operation might begin. Former IDF intelligence chief Amos Yadlin said Wednesday that there should be two weeks of airstrikes before an invasion, but sources tell the Post that the military aims to wrap up the major parts of a ground operation by early November, before winter weather comes to the rugged terrain of southern Lebanon.
Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the IDF's chief of staff, also told troops to prepare for a ground operation. He said in the operation, troops would "go in, destroy the enemy there and decisively destroy" Hezbollah's infrastructure in southern Lebanon, the Washington Post reports. He told troops in northern Israel that the airstrikes were intended "to prepare the terrain for the possibility of your incursion," but they should still expect to meet a "forceful response," reports the New York Times.
The IDF said it hit around 280 targets in the latest round of airstrikes. A missile Hezbollah fired at Tel Aviv Wednesday, one of hundreds of missiles, rockets, and drones fired across the border since Sunday, was intercepted. President Biden said Wednesday that "all-out war is possible," but it's also possible "to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region," the AP reports. In an interview on ABC's The View, he said a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah could lead to a peace deal in the Israel-Hamas war, and he's using "every bit of energy" he has with his team to get it done. (More Lebanon stories.)
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