Some in Israel have long advocated for a ground invasion, but Netanyahu has been reluctant. What happens now?JERUSALEM — Israel has been preparing for its next war against Hezbollah for nearly a decade, and a full-scale conflict has seemed increasingly inevitable with each passing month since Oct. 7. Now, with Hamas diminished in Gaza, Israel is putting its battle plan in motion.
Israel’s punishing airstrikes across southern Lebanon, following last week’s unprecedented attacks on Hezbollah communications devices and a series of strikes on the group’s top commanders, mark a dramatic escalation after more than 11 months of damaging, but calculated, exchanges of fire between the two sides. Now, former officials and analysts say, Israel has opened a window of opportunity for a possible ground invasion, which parts of the security establishment have long advocated for.
“The military has been building and rebuilding the plan for years,” said Miri Eisin, a former senior intelligence officer in the Israeli military who has been briefed on security deliberations. “Every time we got to a place where we were going to do it, there were constraints.”
Now, “it all came together” for the opening phase, she said. “The question is what’s next.”
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