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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIt's all about to get worse,
Israel is planning to significantly expand its ground operation in Lebanon, aiming to seize the entire area south of the Litani River and dismantle Hezbollah's military infrastructure, Israeli and U.S. officials say.
Why it matters: This could be the largest Israeli ground invasion of its northern neighbor since 2006, dragging Lebanon to the epicenter of the escalating war with Iran.
"We are going to do what we did in Gaza," a senior Israeli official said, referring to the flattening of buildings Israel says Hezbollah uses to store weapons and launch attacks.
The big picture: An operation of this size and scale could lead to a prolonged Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/14/israel-lebanon-ground-invasion-hezbollah
Response to RandySF (Original post)
dalton99a This message was self-deleted by its author.
Dan
(5,109 posts)WmChris
(709 posts)He needs a war to stay out of prison.
ananda
(34,982 posts)and then leave it to Trump and Jared to "rebuild"?
Intractable
(1,956 posts)From google ...
Israel primarily sources its weapons from the United States, which provides roughly 69% of its major conventional arms imports, followed by Germany (about 30%) and Italy. These imports include advanced aircraft, precision-guided munitions, and missile defense systems. While relying on imports, Israel also maintains a robust domestic defense industry.
I think that makes us partially responsible for the destruction in the Middle East.
Ferrets are Cool
(22,858 posts)1WorldHope
(2,019 posts)I am very pro Jew. I've never been able to digest the Holocaust fully. How could people be so sick and cruel. And, like every other nation some narcissist becomes leader and takes good people to a place they never dreamed of going. Bibi is the Jewish people's Trump. I hope there are second chances. Mostly for the planet itself and animals, plants and trees. If humans never evolved again, I'd call that a win.
RandySF
(83,533 posts)paleotn
(22,090 posts)Yet as the years roll on, they seem bound and determined to inflict the same atrocities they suffered. Inching ever closer. Yes, they have a right to defend themselves but this ain't defending.
1WorldHope
(2,019 posts)Children who grow up being abused, often abuse children themselves. Women marry men just like their fucked up father's and boys are looking for someone just like dear ol' mom. That's pretty general with no numbers to back it up. But maybe more like a belief I seem to have decided was mostly true.
paleotn
(22,090 posts)Mossfern
(4,697 posts)Netanyahu is the Israeli people's Trump.
And yes, it is very important to make that distinction.
vapor2
(4,377 posts)1WorldHope
(2,019 posts)hibbing
(10,581 posts)SunSeeker
(58,197 posts)Tanuki
(16,424 posts)"On the American side, the file is being managed by Trump adviser Massad Boulos, who is also the U.S. envoy for Africa.
Boulos, who is Tiffany Trump's father-in-law, has been in contact with Israeli, Lebanese and Arab officials in recent days to facilitate direct talks between Israel and Lebanon."
SunSeeker
(58,197 posts)Trumps Middle East Advisor Pick Is a Small-Time Truck Salesman
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/12/world/africa/trump-massad-boulos-middle-east.html
Bettie
(19,602 posts)Seriously? The Israeli right wants more territory.
They declared war on Iran and then began bombing Lebanon, because their goal is "Greater Israel", so they want Lebanon.
After that, they'll need to find a pretext to take Jordan or the chunk of Egypt they want.
AloeVera
(4,202 posts)I've been gobsmacked for 2+ years that people didn't SEE Gaza was just the start. The blueprint.
And everything else was just deceit.
orangecrush
(30,012 posts)
highplainsdem
(61,644 posts)that river's water for decades. And this war is giving them an excuse to grab it.
From the Christian Science Monitor in 1982:
https://www.csmonitor.com/1982/0120/012034.html
The Litani River has long been a target (since the early Zionist settlements in Palestine under the British mandate) but that target - essentially academic until recently - now adds an ever increasing urgency to the older designs upon the Litani waters.
Plans for acquiring the Litani were articulated soon after Israel came into being in 1948, and the recently published diaries of Moshe Sharret, reveal such Cabinet-level discussions in the mid-1950s. At a more mundane level, restaurant place mats in the Tel Aviv Sheraton Hotel show the historical boundaries of Israel spanning the area of today's Lebanon well north of the Litani. Historical claims thus correlate closely with economic exigency, and Israeli publications refer tellingly to the ''wasted'' resources of the Litani juxtaposed to Israel's needs.
The waters of the Litani River promise an increase of between 25 and 45 percent in water availability, all the more alluring now that the sewage reclamation projects, the last options for indigenous water, are being completed. Diversion of the Litani into Israel is physically easy, a simpler undertaking than the National Water Carrier, and the engineering studies are reportedly complete.
paleotn
(22,090 posts)highplainsdem
(61,644 posts)triggered some memories of what I'd heard about decades ago.
angrychair
(12,193 posts)IDF soldiers have been seen wearing a patch on their shoulder called the "greater Israel" patch which shows nation of Israel over much of that area of the ME, including historic Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, portions of Syria and Iraq, Egypt's Sinai and northern Saudi Arabia, with the words written next to the map saying "Promised Land of Israel" in Hebrew.
While the IDF has stated this is not an official part of the uniform it is a growing topic of conversation among ultra-nationalists and comments by Netanyahu last year did nothing to slow it down:
When people in Arab countries, their literal neighbors, see or even just think they are wearing patches that show this "Greater Israel" being acted on in real life by literally trying to seize a piece of the land on that image, it's hard to ignore and I just don't think it's going to go well at all
Reference: https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/greater-israel-patch-middle-east-tensions-1783265
Orrex
(67,001 posts)Hmm.
Scalded Nun
(1,669 posts)Wednesdays
(22,432 posts)Just take over everything from the Turkish border to India?
Buns_of_Fire
(19,114 posts)For that, you know he'll turn to his favorite sugar daddy. And should Daddy Americabucks balk, a subtle hint of maybe aligning Israel closer with Russia will take care of it, no problem. He knows his audience.
angrychair
(12,193 posts)And they are now starting another?!?
Seriously, what the fuck is going on?!?