'Will use all our capabilities, including you', Gallant tells troops as Israel hints at ground invasion of Lebanon

Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant on Monday said that elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was not the final step and hinted at Israel’s intention of mounting a ground invasion of Lebanon, after he told troops in the north of the country that “we will use all of our capabilities – including you.”

“The elimination of Nasrallah is an important step, but it is not the final one. In order to ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities, we will employ all of our capabilities, and this includes you,” AFP quoted Gallant as saying to soldiers deployed to the northern border.

According to The Guardian report, Gallant said that returning Israelis to their homes in the north – about 60,000 have been forced to evacuate by repeated rocket fire from Lebanon – was “the mission of the IDF.”

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“That is what we will do, and we will deploy whatever is needed – you, other forces, from the air, from the sea, and from the land,” he added.

Earlier, Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem made a defiant statement, announcing that a replacement for Nasrallah would be appointed soon.

He claimed that Hezbollah was still utilising only a small portion of its capabilities to confront Israel.

Qassem highlighted the group’s extensive arsenal and affirmed their commitment to continue fighting. He remarked that any other organisation facing the recent sabotage attacks in Lebanon would have collapsed, but Hezbollah endured.

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These attacks, which resulted in numerous fatalities and injuries, are widely seen as part of an Israeli effort to target Hezbollah operatives.

As Israel continues its airstrikes on Lebanon, its operations in Gaza also persist, with reports indicating that 12 people, including a journalist, were killed in strikes on Monday. In Lebanon, approximately 1,000 people have died, 6,000 have been injured, and around one million have been displaced due to the Israeli bombardment.

Over the weekend, Israel targeted locations in the Houthi-controlled region of Yemen, and on Monday morning, explosions were reported in Damascus, Syria.

With inputs from agencies