Israel conducts intel raids in southern Lebanon ahead of a possible ground invasion

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli commandos are conducting limited intelligence-gathering raids inside southern Lebanon, and there are indications that Israel will be carrying out a limited ground incursion, a senior U.S. official told NPR.

“Everything is on the table,” the official said about the possibility of a ground incursion, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation.

U.S. officials have estimated that Israel is not prepared for a major ground offensive inside Lebanon because its troops are stretched thin following a year of ground operations inside Gaza after the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack.

Tamir Hayman, who served as the head of Israel’s military intelligence directorate until 2021, said in an interview on Israeli Army Radio on Monday that Israel’s airstrikes in Lebanon had successfully knocked Hezbollah off balance.

But he said Israel should decide soon whether to launch a ground invasion, and for what purpose: to create a permanent security buffer zone that Israel would occupy long term, with much international opposition, or only to remain temporarily to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure?

“Are we there in order to reach a deal and then leaving? Are we there in order to stay?” Hayman said, referring to the choices Israel must make.

Hezbollah’s acting leader, Naim Kassem, said the group’s fighters are ready if Israel does launch a ground invasion into southern Lebanon, according to remarks reported by The Associated Press.

The U.S. is sending additional forces to the region

The senior U.S. official told NPR that the Pentagon will send a “a few thousand” more troops to the Middle East, focused on air defense capabilities.

The U.S. is concerned about retaliation to Israel’s moves by Iran and Iranian-supported militias in the region. Such a retaliation could threaten U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria.

Israel’s strikes in Yemen offer a message to Iran

Israel’s conflict with the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen is also intensifying.

On Saturday, the Houthis, the main military group in Yemen, launched a ballistic missile toward central Israel, saying it was targeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s airplane returning from addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Netanyahu landed in Israel shortly before air raid sirens wailed at the airport and throughout central Israel. The Israeli military said it intercepted the missile midair.

On Sunday, Israel’s military said it sent dozens of fighter jets and refueling aircraft more than 1,000 miles away to Yemen, where it said it bombed power plants and a seaport used by the Houthis to import oil for military purposes. The Houthis said the areas hit were civilian targets and that at least four people were killed and dozens wounded in the Israeli strikes.

Israeli security analysts said Israel’s bombing campaign in Yemen was a message to Iran, showing Israel’s long-range flight capability as a tacit warning to Iran that it, too, was within Israel’s reach.

This is a developing story that may be updated.

Tom Bowman contributed reporting from Washington, D.C.