Israel’s airstrikes on Lebanon on Friday were the response chosen by the Israeli army to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that Lebanon’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah
are an “encouraging beginning” although they are “far from sufficient,” Asharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted informed sources in Tel Aviv as saying.
“Israel has started to back down from the idea of a major strike at the moment, deciding instead to settle for severe but limited strikes,” the daily quoted Israeli political and military sources as saying.
According to the sources, Netanyahu had agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump in their Florida meeting last week on “waging a major military strike against Hezbollah in return for Netanyahu agreeing to the majority of American demands in Gaza and Syria.”
“The alibi for striking Hezbollah was ready and almost enjoys unanimity, seeing as polls indicate that 57% of the public are in favor of an immediate strike,” the sources said.
The rhetoric, however, changed over the past hours, with military sources saying Netanyahu “fears that such an operation now would deviate attention from the major dramatic events that are happening in Iran, and that Israel, the side most concerned with the fall of the Iranian regime, must not at all disrupt the protest campaign that is taking place there.”
“That’s why Israeli security agencies will keep preparing for a scenario of a new ground incursion with large forces into Lebanese territory, especially after Netanyahu obtained U.S. support for that, but they will choose the appropriate time for implementation,” the sources added.
Other Israeli media reports meanwhile talked about the negative impact of such an operation on north Israel and its residents.