A statement attributed to the Chief of Staff of the Israeli occupation army, Herzi Halevi, has spread on social media, saying: “The Israeli Chief of Staff will leave nothing of the suburb in the coming hours.”
Kashif verified the information and found that the statement is inaccurate. Kashif searched the official websites of Halevi and the Hebrew media and did not find any mention of the circulated statement. However, it found an official statement by Halevi saying that the Israeli occupation army is preparing to expand its ground attacks in southern Lebanon.
The spokesman for the Israeli occupation army, Daniel Hagari, published on his official WhatsApp channel a video clip of Halevi accompanied by leaders of the occupation soldiers in the southern Lebanon region on 12/11/2024. Halevi said in the video: “From Nasrallah, through the Jihad Council of Hezbollah, the leaders of the various units and regions, the leaders of the sectors, regions and complexes, and all the way to many activists, we have eliminated many leaders and fighters and eliminated many capabilities. You are taking out from here many weapons, missiles and missile platforms. This is very important.”
“The IDF is operating with great force,” Halevi added. “We have attacked heavily in Beirut, in the suburbs, and have targeted Hezbollah targets. We are attacking deep inside and attacking a lot in Syria and on the Syrian-Lebanese border to prevent weapons from reaching Hezbollah. Clearing this area will give us the basic conditions to launch from there and do the right things to ensure security in the valley below.”
On 12/11/2024, the spokesman for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, published leaflets demanding the immediate evacuation of the residents of several villages in southern Lebanon, namely: Shaqra, Houla, Majdal Salm, Taloussa, Mays al-Jabal, Sawana, Qabrikha, Yahmour, Arnoun, Blida, Muhaibib, Barashit, Fron, and Ghandouriya.
On 12/11/2024 , Israeli-Hebrew website Walla reported that the Israeli occupation army is preparing to expand the ground maneuver in southern Lebanon, and added: “Against the backdrop of the delay in negotiations regarding a ceasefire and the escalation in the launching of missiles and drones, the Israeli army has decided to expand the ground maneuver in southern Lebanon.”
Israeli-Hebrew website Ynet also published on 12/11/2024 that the Minister of the Israeli Army, Yisrael Katz, is against the ceasefire in Lebanon and calls for disarming Hezbollah.
The Israeli occupation has intensified its attacks against Hezbollah since mid-September, by blowing up the wireless communication devices “pagers” that were used by party members on 17/9/2024, and assassinating Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in the southern suburb of Beirut on 27/9/2024. On 30/9/2024, the Israeli occupation army announced the start of the ground operation in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health also announced, according to the latest statistics issued on 12/11/2024, that the number of Lebanese killed since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon rose to 3,287 and 14,222 wounded.