Israel’s strategy –

Rapid incursions into Lebanese soil by Israeli commandos. Before a ground operation. A development, the latter, which is apparently approaching. The American press has written about repeated raids by Israeli forces in Lebanon. Silence from Israel. In recent days there have been incursions in view of a possible larger-scale ground operation, the first since the 33-day war in 2006 between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah, and the raids served «to prepare the ground for a possible larger invasion wide in the near future,” wrote the New York Times, citing six Israeli officers and officials and one Western official. Raid with the aim of collecting intelligence information on Hezbollah positions near the border with Lebanon and to locate tunnels and military sites of the decapitated Shiite group, orphaned of its leader Hasan Nasrallah.

Blitzes which have intensified in recent days and which, the NYT writes again quoting five officials, followed months of similar undercover missions in which Israeli special forces quickly crossed the border for reconnaissance activities. The Wall Street Journal wrote of “limited, targeted” raids in southern Lebanon to collect intelligence information and evidence before a possible larger ground incursion which – according to the newspaper’s sources – could start as early as this week. The newspaper reported raids recently and in recent months, including Hezbollah’s entry into tunnels “along the border”, and a recent blitz last week, according to US, Lebanese and United Nations sources.

The Lebanese Army, we read in the newspaper, reported to the UN the presence of Israeli troops in an area between Hanita, on the Israeli side of the border, and Alma el Chaab, on the Lebanese side, near the Blue Line, the demarcation defined after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in 2000. One of the WSJ sources said that the Israeli military reported to the commander of Unifil, the UN force in southern Lebanon, about work in progress, and then about the withdrawal . Also this morning, US officials confirmed to CNN, there were special operations by Israeli forces in Lebanese territory near the border. “Very precise, well targeted, very limited” blitz, with Hezbollah’s capabilities in the crosshairs. The American network highlights how US sources do not describe these operations as a ground incursion. But this development is getting closer. A “limited” ground operation in Lebanon may be imminent, Israel has informed its US allies, according to the Washington Post, which cites a US official.