Above photo: Israeli Merkava tanks are positioned in the north of Israel near the border with Lebanon on October 15, 2023. AFP.
Analysts suggest the Israeli army may still not have enough manpower in the north for a ground operation.
The Israeli army has completed the recruitment of two reserve infantry and tank brigades for operational missions on the northern front, Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic language spokesman, said on the social media site X on 27 September.
The announcement comes as Israel prepares for a ground invasion of south Lebanon to fight Hezbollah. The Israeli Air Force began a massive bombing in south and east Lebanon on Monday, killing over 700 people and displacing at least 70,000 more.
Adraee stated that reservists from the Etzioni Brigade and the Northern Nahal Brigade have arrived in the north. Emergency warehouse units have been opened and logistical equipment and combat means were distributed to reserve soldiers.
#عاجل #سهام_الشمال جيش الدفاع أستكمل تجنيد لوائي احتياط لمهام عملياتية في الجبهة الشمالية: هكذا انتقلت قوات لواء عتسيوني (6) ولواء ناحال الشمالي (228) للقتال في الشمال
🔸في إطار رفع الاستعدادات على الساحة الشمالية خلال الأيام الأخيرة تم تجنيد لوائيْ احتياط للمشاركة في القتال في… pic.twitter.com/U1DUb8eLcK
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) September 27, 2024
Machine translation: “The IDF has completed the recruitment of two reserve brigades for operational missions on the northern front: Thus, the forces of the Etzioni Brigade (6) and the Northern Nahal Brigade (228) have been transferred to fight in the north. As part of the increased readiness on the northern front in recent days, two reserve brigades were recruited to participate in the fighting in the northern campaign. After carrying out operational missions on the northern border throughout the war, Reserve Brigade (6), Reserve Brigade (228) and several additional reserve battalions were recruited with the aim of allowing the continuation of combat efforts, striking the military capabilities of the terrorist organization Hezbollah and creating conditions for the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes. With the recruitment of the two reserve brigades, emergency depot units were opened and logistical equipment and combat means were distributed to reserve soldiers.
The Washington Post reported that the Israeli military’s mobilization for a possible land incursion into Lebanon was evident in northern Israel on Thursday.
“On the highways in northern Israel, one convoy of jeeps and another of military vehicles headed north on roads with little traffic. Trucks hauled portable saferooms. Vehicles with large beds carried tanks. Elsewhere, military bases and staging grounds are nestled into the north’s hills,” the paper stated.
“It’s a different type of war,” said 20-year-old Lior Papismadov, a soldier who previously fought against Hamas in Gaza but has now been trained for Lebanon’s different climate and hilly terrain.
“We are prepared for it,” he said of a ground invasion. “We don’t know if it’s going to happen, but we are preparing.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that Israel has been waiting for the opportunity to invade Lebanon and take on Hezbollah for some time.
“Hezbollah wanted to drain, and it got crushed. It suffers from fear and control problems. We have had open accounts for many years with many parties, and we were waiting for the opportunity, including me personally,” Gallant told Channel 12.
While the mobilization of troops suggests that Israel may be planning a ground invasion, analysts who spoke to Al Jazeera cast doubt on such a possibility.
Two regiments “is not a lot, not for an invasion of Lebanon,” Ori Goldberg, an Israeli political analyst, told Al Jazeera.
Goldberg said that in Gaza, Israel deployed a much greater number of troops to fight in a much smaller area and against a much weaker opponent in Hamas.
“Right now, my assessment would be that it’s still for show, but it might change within 24 hours,” he said. “We’re still on the brink, but I don’t think a decision has been made to launch an invasion.”
Despite Israel’s brutal bombing campaign in Lebanon in recent days, Hezbollah appears to remain strong and ready for any Israeli escalation.
“Hezbollah has yet to employ 10 percent of its capabilities,” military affairs correspondent Yossi Yehoshua wrote in Yediot Ahronot, Israel’s largest daily newspaper. “The euphoria that is evident among the decision-makers and some of the public should be placed back in the attic: the situation is still complex and flammable.”