Israel ‘very serious about going into Lebanon’
Israel ‘very serious about going into Lebanon’ During Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent trip to the Middle East, he told an Arab counterpart that it appears Israel is intent on launching an incursion into Lebanon, according to a source familiar with the meeting. “It seems that they [Israel] are very serious about going into Lebanon,” the person said. The Arab official’s response to Blinken, the source added, was that Hezbollah has communicated that they will not stop their strikes on Israel until Israel stops its operations in Gaza. Israeli officials have told the US that one of its main goals in an offensive would be to push Hezbollah back, creating a buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon and allowing the tens of thousands of Israelis who have been forced out of their homes in the north because of the cross-border attacks to return. If war is averted and Hochstein’s plan goes into effect, it would similarly see Hezbollah pull back around six miles, or ten kilometers, away fr...