'They Planned October 7-Style Attack': Israel Targets Hezbollah At South Lebanon Villages, Intense Fight On

The Israel Defense Force (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari on Tuesday claimed that the militant group Hezbollah was planning to use villages near the Lebanon border for “staging grounds for an October 7-style invasion into Israeli homes.”

The allegation came after the Israeli military said on Tuesday that intense fighting with Hezbollah was taking place in southern Lebanon, which the IDF termed as targeted operations in Lebanon to dismantle Hezbollah’s capabilities and restore security to Israel’s north.

The military issued a warning to citizens not to move their vehicles from the northern area to the southern area of the Litani River. “This warning is in effect until further notice,” the IDF said in a statement posted on X.

‘Hezbollah Planned October 7-Style Invasion’

Issuing a recorded video statement, Hagari claimed that the Lebanese terror group had planned “to invade Israel, attack Israeli communities and massacre innocent men, women and children. They called this plan, ‘Conquer the Galilee.’”

“We will not let the 7th of October happen again on any one of our borders,” he vowed, almost a year after some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists infiltrated across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seized 251 hostages, mostly civilians, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault, sparking the ongoing war in Gaza.

Israel Begins ‘Ground Assault’

Earlier in the day, Israeli troops reportedly launched “targeted ground raids” in villages of southern Lebanon. The attacks backed by airstrikes and artillery targeted the militant group Hezbollah “in villages close to the border” with Israel, a military statement said.

“The IDF began limited, localised, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon,” Israel’s military said in a statement.

IDF will be carrying out “a methodical plan set out by the General Staff and the Northern Command, which soldiers have trained and prepared for in recent months”, the Jerusalem Post informed.

The recent attacks came two days after it killed the group’s chief Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike in Beirut on Friday night. A Lebanese security official said Israel had also conducted at least six strikes on south Beirut after Israel’s army ordered residents in the Hezbollah stronghold to evacuate, reported AFP.

‘Battle Not Over’: Israel

Despite international calls for de-escalation, Israel vowed to keep fighting against Hezbollah. Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant had warned earlier that Israel’s military action in Lebanon ‘was not over’ even after an Israeli strike killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday, dealing a devastating blow to the militant group.

Indicating that warfare was far from over, Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem, in his first televised speech since Nasrallah’s death, also vowed to continue their fight against Israel. The group has said in a statement they “targeted” Israeli troops in orchards near the Lebanese border.