BlockBeats News, April 14th, Monday local time, the Israeli army launched a ground offensive on the southern Lebanese key town of Bent Jbeil, completed the encirclement, and began clearing operations. An Israeli military officer stated that full operational control of the town would be achieved in the coming days. Bent Jbeil is a strategic stronghold of Hezbollah and surrounding villages, with a foreign security official in Lebanon stating that capturing the town would allow Israel to fully control the southeastern Lebanon border area.
Israel has explicitly stated that its ultimate goal is to occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, about 30 kilometers from the Israeli border. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it has intercepted more than 10 Hezbollah drones and rockets. A Hezbollah rocket hit a residential building in the northern city of Nahariya, causing minor casualties. The International Red Cross stated that its center in Tyre, southern Lebanon, was attacked, resulting in one fatality.
As the military operation continues, the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the US are scheduled to hold a rare meeting in Washington on Tuesday, chaired by the US ambassador to Lebanon. The Lebanese Foreign Minister stated that Beirut would use this meeting to seek a ceasefire and emphasized that this effectively decoupled the Lebanon issue from the Iran track.
It is worth noting that both the US and Israel have stated that military operations against Hezbollah are not part of the US-Iran ceasefire agreement, and the Lebanese battlefield is still operating independently. Since last Wednesday’s intense airstrikes on Beirut that resulted in hundreds of casualties, Israel has not launched a new round of strikes on the Lebanese capital.
