Israel's Ground Incursions into Lebanon: What is the Israeli Army's Goal ?

The Israeli army announced that it had launched ground operations in southern Lebanon on the night of Monday to Tuesday. A “larger maneuver” is planned for later today, according to the IDF.

The Israeli army officially announced on Tuesday, October 1, that its forces “have begun a few hours ago, limited, localized and targeted ground raids […] against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.” The first ground incursions, which Israel had been talking about for several days, finally took place on the night of Monday to Tuesday.

These operations target targets “located in villages near the border” and which “pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” the IDF added in a statement. It also warned that a “larger maneuver” would take place in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, October 1, after the “discreet operations” of the night. “Intense fighting” in southern Lebanon has already been mentioned this Tuesday morning by the spokesman for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, in a message on X.

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The Lebanese media, notably the channel Al-Mayadeen known to be close to Hezbollah, assures that it has no confirmation that Israeli troops crossed the border with Lebanon during the night. The pro-Iranian Islamist movement indicates however in a press release that it targeted Israeli soldiers twice in Metula, in the north of Israel, first with artillery and then with rockets.

Two Israeli officials told the American website Axios, on condition of anonymity, that the operation launched on the night of Monday to Tuesday “does not aim to occupy southern Lebanon.” A position reaffirmed by the Israeli ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka, on France Inter: “We have no intention of invading Lebanon. What we are trying to do is to allow the return of our population that should be at home in the north of the country.” The diplomat added that Israel has “repeatedly tried to find a diplomatic situation” but believes that “diplomacy has failed so far and [that] we have been forced to use force”.

The ground incursions into Lebanon appear to be a new phase in the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah, a pro-Iranian Islamist movement, which began about ten days ago with the intensification of air strikes. The Hebrew state justifies its operations by the desire to secure an entire strip of land in northern Israel, the border with Lebanon, to allow the return of more than 60,000 evacuated civilians. The same justification is given to explain the land advances.

Israel's American ally has attempted to dissuade the Hebrew state from carrying out incursions into Lebanon according to information from the New York Times. American diplomacy sees in the night operations the fruit of their efforts recalling that Israel has carried out “limited" incursions along the border with Lebanon.