Israel’s war front is shifting dramatically north towards Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists

JERUSALEM – Signs of a third full-scale war between Israel and The U.S.-designated terrorist movement, Hezbollah, which runs a state within a state in Lebanon, is growing rapidly. Israel has fought two previous wars against the Lebanese-based terrorist forces, in 1982 and 2006, and a third war appears imminent.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has moved its elite and battle-hardened 98th Division from the southern Gaza theater to the north to fight Hamas, in what could be a prelude to what some are calling a ground invasion to root out Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon.

IDF Reserve Brigadier General Amir Avivi told Fox News Digital that war in the north with Hezbollah is just around the corner. “A few weeks ago, it was clear that, given the fact that Israel had destroyed most of Hamas’ forces, Hamas no longer posed a serious threat to Israel. That was the moment to decide to change strategy and shift the center of gravity from the south to the north.”

ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES CONFIRM ‘TARGET ATTACK’ ON BEIRUT

Rescuers carry a body at the scene of a rocket attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. ((AP Photo/Bilal Hussein))

The rapid moves in Israel — a country the size of New Jersey — come as the Jewish foreign intelligence service, Mossad, allegedly detonated electronic devices belonging to Hezbollah militants in a scene from a John le Carré spy novel. Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded Tuesday, killing 12 people, including two children, and wounding about 2,800 others.

On Wednesday, there was another wave of electronic device explosions that killed at least 25 people and injured more than 450. Hezbollah officials said the devices included walkie-talkies and solar devices.

HEZBOLLAH A GREATER CHALLENGE FOR ISRAEL THAN HAMAS: “THE CROWN JEWEL OF THE IRAN EMPIRE OF TERROR”

The Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday they targeted Hezbollah infrastructure facilities in Lebanon. (Israel Defense Forces)

“That was the moment when the decision was made to change strategy and move the center of gravity from the south to the north”

Israel and Hezbollah have been locked in heavy air combat for the past 48 hours. Israel’s war cabinet has declared the return of as many as 100,000 Israelis who were forced to flee the north by Hezbollah attacks as a key objective of the war.

Avivi, head of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, noted that there is no way to safely bring displaced Israelis back to their homes in the north “without driving Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon and hitting Hezbollah hard — with all their capabilities throughout Lebanon.”

Israel Defense Forces troops operate near the border with Lebanon.

He said the chances of finding a diplomatic solution were “exceptionally low due to the lack of international pressure and the US reluctance to pose a credible military threat to Iran and Hezbollah.”

The United Nations has failed to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ordered Hezbollah to disarm following its 2006 war with the Jewish state.

Israel destroys Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists in spectacular pager explosion operation: experts

In another devastating blow to Hezbollah, an IDF attack on Friday killed members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in Beirut.

IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani announced on X on Friday that “we eliminated Ibrahim Aqil earlier today in a precision strike in Beirut, Lebanon. At the time of the strike, Ibrahim Aqil and about 10 Radwan commanders who were eliminated along with him were gathered underground — under a residential building in the heart of the Dahiyah neighborhood, hiding among Lebanese civilians — using them as human shields.”

Aqil was a wanted global Islamist terrorist with the blood of American military personnel on his hands. He was wanted by the United States for his alleged role in the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut. He is also believed to be connected to the taking of American hostages in Lebanon in the 1980s.

The Israel Defense Forces says it killed senior Hezbollah terrorist Ibrahim Aqil in an attack in Beirut on Friday. (Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Unit)

Shoshani added: “They were in the process of planning further terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians. Terrorist attacks such as the 200 rockets fired today at Israeli civilians and many more. These commanders also planned the Hezbollah ‘Conquest of Galilee’ attack plan, in which Hezbollah intended to infiltrate Israeli communities and murder innocent civilians.”

Hezbollah attacked Israel on October 8, a day after its ally Hamas invaded Israel and killed nearly 1,200 people. Hezbollah attacks have killed more than 40 people in Israel, including 12 Israeli Druze children on a crowded soccer field in July.

“If Hezbollah cares about Lebanon’s future, it will do the right thing by withdrawing from the Israeli border”

Jonathan Conricus, a former IDF spokesman, told Fox News Digital: “If Israel wanted to launch a full-scale offensive against an Iranian proxy in Lebanon, it would not have waited more than 11 months. The IDF is attacking launchers and military infrastructure in Lebanon after dealing a stunning and demoralizing blow by causing communications equipment to explode, in what is likely Israel’s latest attempt to pressure Hezbollah into agreeing to a diplomatic agreement that could avert war.”

The aftermath of Hezbollah rocket fire on the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shemona, May 10, 2024. (Photo: Erez Bar Simon/TPS-IL.) (Erez Bar Simon/TPS-IL)

Conricus, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, added: “If Hezbollah cares about Lebanon’s future, it would do well to withdraw from the Israeli border and cease its aggression against Israel, and to cut its artificial link to Hamas’s war against Israel. Ultimately, the Israeli authorities are obligated to allow the safe return of evacuated Israelis to their homes, either through diplomatic agreement or military action.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Hezbollah fighters form a human barrier during the funeral procession of slain Hezbollah top commander Fuad Shukr in a southern suburb of Beirut, August 1, 2024. Hezbollah mourned Shukr on August 1, whose body was found from the rubble of a July 30 Israeli attack in southern Beirut that also killed five civilians, three women and two children, and wounded dozens, according to the Lebanese health ministry, amid growing concerns about a wider conflict in the region. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images) (Photo: KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Rami Mortada, Lebanon’s ambassador to the UK, told The Times of London that the Israeli invasion “is a doomsday scenario for everyone. It is definitely the end of the world for Lebanon.” He warned that Lebanon would not suffer alone in a new war.

Israeli war planners have spent 17 years since the last war with Hezbollah in 2006 preparing for the final conflict in the country’s north.

Timothy HJ Nerozzi of Fox News contributed to this report.