AJ
⚡️ Israel’s defence establishment said the current ongoing operation in southern Lebanon would not solve the threat posed by explosive drones, despite the fact it may hurt Hezbollah.
🔹 Officials are questioning whether the expanded ground operation and the push to deepen what Prime Minister Netanyahu described as a ‘fortified security zone’ will produce meaningful results that justify the growing risks to IDF forces.
🔹 Despite the expansion of operations further north in southern Lebanon, the political echelon was still not authorising the IDF to operate in Beirut, leaving Israel largely reliant on ground operations and existing military tools against Hezbollah’s guerrilla warfare tactics.
Unable to accept reality:
🔹 A senior IDF official told Kan News that Israel were unable to accept reality in Lebanon ‘without the ability to respond,’ and being limited by understandings or agreements with both the United States and the Lebanese Government, causing frustration within Israel’s defence establishment not due to a lack of military capability, but rather restrictions imposed ‘from above,’ particularly by the US administration.
Beirut buildings off the table:
🔹 Kan said the option of striking buildings in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district as a ‘price tag’ response wasd not on the table, due to US opposition and the sensitive state of the US-Iran negotiations.
🔹 An Israeli source said Trump was close to losing his patience waiting for Iran’s response, while both Washington and Israel don’t want to give Tehran a reason for the talks to collapse, and because of that, the proposal to act more aggressively in Beirut and Dahiyeh were rejected.
🔹 Instead, Israel are expanding the ground operations beyond the current IDF lines in southern Lebanon, though ministers in the cabinet are expressing serious doubts whether this would reduce the threat from Hezbollah’s explosive drones.
