IDF chief: Ground op against Hezbollah being prepared; ‘very strong response’ to Tel Aviv rocket coming

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says the military is preparing for a ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, telling a group of soldiers that their “military boots will enter enemy territory.”

“You can hear the planes above, we are attacking all day. Both to prepare the area for the possibility of your entry [into Lebanon], and also to continue causing blows to Hezbollah,” Halevi tells troops of the 7th Armored Brigade during a drill simulating a ground offensive in Lebanon.

“Hezbollah today expanded its [range] of fire. Later today, it will receive a very strong response,” he vows, after the terror group fired a missile at central Israel this morning.

“Today we will continue, we do not stop, we continue to attack and continue to strike them everywhere. The goal is a very clear goal, to return the [displaced] residents of the north safely,” Halevi continues.

“To do this, we are preparing the [ground] maneuver,” he says to the soldiers.

“Your military boots,” Halevi says, “will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts, with underground infrastructure, staging points, and launchpads into our territory [from which Hezbollah intends] to carry out attacks on Israeli civilians.

“Your entry into those areas with force, your encounter with Hezbollah operatives, will show them what it means to face a professional, highly skilled, and battle-experienced force,” he goes on. “You are coming in much stronger and far more experienced than they are. You will go in, destroy the enemy there, and decisively destroy their infrastructure. These are the things that will enable us to safely return the residents of the north afterward.”