Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz officially declared on Monday the start of a ground operation in Lebanon, even as the occupation army has largely failed to push forward along the border since the launch of the Israeli aggression on March 2, facing stiff resistance from Hezbollah fighters.
Following a security assessment with senior Israeli military and defense officials, Katz said the operation “is intended to dismantle militant infrastructure and prevent attacks on residents of the Galilee and other northern areas.”
“The IDF has begun a ground maneuver in Lebanon to remove threats and protect the residents of the Galilee and the north,” Katz said, referring to Israeli occupation forces.
“Hundreds of thousands of Shiite residents who have evacuated from southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut will not be allowed to return to areas south of the Litani River until Israel determines that northern communities are safe,” the Israeli DM stated, singling out a specific religious community in the Lebanese people.
Katz’s remarks introduced a sectarian dimension to the conflict by explicitly referencing Shiites while discussing restrictions on displaced civilians, a framing that could be interpreted as collective punishment tied to sectarian identity.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Israeli DM also said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the military to destroy militant infrastructure in villages near the Israeli border, in a strategy he compared to Israeli assaults against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“Hezbollah will pay a heavy price for its aggression and its role in the Iranian axis seeking to destroy Israel,” Katz blustered.