Israeli forces are ready to start the ground operation in Gaza. Hamas launched a brutal terrorist attack on October 7, which murdered over 1,200 Israelis. The terrorist group must be eradicated—there is no choice. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formed a unity government that agrees that the terror group must be wiped out to secure their national security.
The scale of the attack was immense, with numerous reports about the vicious atrocities carried out by these radical Islamic terrorists. They were animals, raping women and children, torturing children by removing body parts, and murdering whole families, setting them on fire. Babies were found beheaded and burned. Killing every single last one of these terrorists is just and proper, but it will take time. It could take years; Hamas has an extensive network of tunnels, and reportedly 40,000 men prepared to defend Gaza. Meanwhile, Hezbollah threatened to open another front against Israel from Lebanon.
For days, airstrikes have occurred in Gaza, Lebanon, and parts of Syria. Hezbollah has attacked parts of northern Israel through rocket attacks. The IDF’s Gaza operation could spark a regional war but that hasn’t deterred Netanyahu’s government from offering stern warnings to Hezbollah if they should follow through on their threat for all-out war. Netanyahu warned that such an action could bring their destruction as well (via France 24):
Should Hezbollah try and get involved, it would be "the mistake of its life," Netanyahu said.
"We will strike it with a force it cannot even imagine, and the significance for it and the state of Lebanon will be devastating."
Hezbollah is an ally of the Islamist Hamas movement which sparked the war with its October 7 rampage that killed at least 1,400 people in Israel, according to authorities.
Israel has retaliated with relentless strikes on Hamas in the Gaza Strip that have killed more than 4,650 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry.
In parallel, it has exchanged fire with Hezbollah across its northern border.
Since October 7, the cross-border exchanges have left at least 36 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally -- mostly combatants but also at least four civilians, including a Reuters journalist.
Another four people have been killed in Israel, including three soldiers and one civilian. Israel has evacuated dozens of its northern communities while several thousand Lebanese have fled border regions for the southern city of Tyre.
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The tit-for-tat attacks have so far been relatively contained, but analysts have warned that Hezbollah could scale up its activity if Israel launches a ground invasion of Gaza.
Hezbollah's number two Naim Qassem on Saturday said the group could step up its engagement.
But Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus warned that Hezbollah was playing "a very, very dangerous game".
"They're escalating the situation. We see more and more attacks every day," he said.
"Is the Lebanese state really willing to jeopardise what is left of Lebanese prosperity and Lebanese sovereignty for the sake of terrorists in Gaza?"
Netanyahu has the entire nation mobilized to defend itself. Israel hasn’t fought a multi-front war since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, but they’re bracing for one. Meanwhile, the Gaza invasion has suffered delays due to international pressure over its bombing campaign, the hostage situation in Gaza—Hamas kidnapped some 200 people on October 7—and the overall regional security fallout when the first tanks and troops roll into the strip. There are also concerns about the amount of casualties, or there should be—this isn’t going to be a cake walk.