IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari on Tuesday morning explained Israel's limited ground operation in Lebanon, which comprises a series of targeted raids on Hezbollah infrastructure and terrorists.
"The IDF is conducting limited and targeted raids along Israel's northern border against the threat Hezbollah poses to civilians in northern Israel," Hagari began. "These localized ground raids will target Hezbollah strongholds that threaten Israeli towns kibbutzim and communities along our border."
"Hezbollah turned Lebanese villages next to Israeli villages into military bases, all ready for an attack on Israel. Hezbollah had prepared to use those villages as staging grounds for an October 7-style invasion into Israeli homes. Hezbollah planned to invade Israel, attack Israeli communities, and massacre innocent men, women, and children. They called this plan, 'Conquer the Galilee.'"
Hagari emphasized that Israel is within its rights to carry out this operation, and that the international community decided decades ago that Hezbollah's activities in the area south of the Litani River were unacceptable.
"For decades, UN Security Council resolutions have called on Lebanon to make sure its territory is free of non-governmental armed groups," he stressed. "UN Security Council Resolution 1701 from 2006, agreed upon by Israel and Lebanon, requires that there be no armed personnel, assets, and weapons other than those of the government of Lebanon and UNIFIL in southern Lebanon."
"Eighteen years after 1701, Hezbollah is the world's largest non-state army and southern Lebanon is swarming with Hezbollah terrorists and weapons. If the state of Lebanon and the world can't push Hezbollah away from our border, we have no choice but to do it ourselves. I want to make it clear: Our war is with Hezbollah, not with the people of Lebanon. We do not want to harm Lebanese civilians and were taking measures to prevent that."
But he added, "We will not let the seventh of October happen again, on any one of our borders. We'll continue doing whatever necessary so that Israeli families can return to their homes in safety and security."
