Israel Tells Troops Ground Ops Possible09/26 06:14

   

   TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- Israel is preparing for a possible ground operation 
in Lebanon, its army chief said Wednesday as Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets 
across the border and a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that was the militant group's 
deepest strike yet.

   Addressing troops on the northern border, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi 
Halevi said Israel's punishing airstrikes this week were designed to "prepare 
the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah."

   The U.S., France and other allies jointly called for an "immediate" 21-day 
cease-fire in the conflict that has killed more than 600 people to "provide 
space for diplomacy."

   Their joint statement, negotiated on the sidelines of the United Nations 
General Assembly in New York, said the fighting was "intolerable and presents 
an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation." Other signatories 
include the European Union, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

   Israel says it targeted Hezbollah weapons and rocket launchers. In an 
apparent reference to the missile fired at Tel Aviv, Halevi told troops: 
"Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will 
receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves."

   It was not clear whether he was referring to a ground operation, airstrikes 
or some other form of retaliation against Hezbollah, which is Lebanon's 
strongest political force and, with backing from Iran, is widely considered the 
top paramilitary group in the Arab world.

   The Israeli military has said in recent days it had no immediate plans for a 
ground invasion, but Halevi's comments were the strongest yet suggesting troops 
could move in. Israeli said Wednesday it would activate two reserve brigades 
for missions in the north -- another sign that Israel plans tougher action.

   Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have steadily escalated since war 
broke out 11 months ago between Israel and Hamas, another Iran-backed militant 
group. Hezbollah has been firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern 
Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and Hamas. Israel has responded 
with increasingly heavy airstrikes and the targeted killing of Hezbollah 
commanders while threatening a wider operation.

   Nearly a year of fighting had already displaced tens of thousands of people 
on both sides of the border before the recent escalation.

   Israel has vowed to do whatever it takes to ensure its citizens can return 
to their homes in the north, while Hezbollah has said it will keep up its 
rocket attacks until there is a cease-fire in Gaza, something that appears 
increasingly remote.

   U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel and Hezbollah to step 
back, saying all-out war would be disastrous for the region and its people.

   Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the U.N. Security Council to 
act immediately "to guarantee the withdrawal of Israel from all the occupied 
Lebanese territories and the violations that are repeated on a daily basis."

   Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters at the U.N. that Israel 
welcomes initiatives to broker a cease-fire and is "open to ideas." But if 
diplomacy doesn't stop Hezbollah attacks so residents of northern Israel can 
return home, he said, his country would "use all means at our disposal, in 
accordance with international law, to achieve our aims."

   Lebanon's health ministry said 72 people were killed Wednesday in the 
continuing Israeli strikes, raising the death toll from the past three days to 
636, with more than 2,000 wounded. At least a quarter of those killed have been 
women and children, according to Lebanese health officials.

   At Dar Al Amal hospital in the eastern city of Baalbek, Soumaya Moussawi lay 
in bed with her head bandaged and face bruised.

   She had been sitting outside with relatives when warplanes started striking 
in the distance, she said.

   "Then suddenly it hit next to us. We were all thrown in different 
directions," she said. Two cousins and her father were killed, and another 
cousin was badly wounded.

   This week has been the deadliest in Lebanon since the bruising 2006 
monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah.

   Hezbollah said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile targeting the 
headquarters of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, which it blames for a 
recent string of targeted killings of its top commanders and for an attack last 
week in which explosives hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of 
people and wounded thousands, including many Hezbollah members.

   Israeli military officials said they intercepted a surface-to-surface 
missile that set off air-raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel. 
There were no reports of casualties or damage. The military said it struck the 
launch site in southern Lebanon.

   Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the missile fired 
Wednesday had a "heavy warhead" but declined to elaborate or confirm it was the 
type described by Hezbollah. He dismissed Hezbollah's claim of targeting the 
Mossad headquarters just north of Tel Aviv as "psychological warfare."

   The Israeli military said it was the first time a projectile fired from 
Lebanon had reached central Israel. Hezbollah claimed to have targeted an 
intelligence base near Tel Aviv last month in an aerial attack, but there was 
no confirmation. Hamas repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv in the opening months of 
the war in Gaza.

   The launch ratcheted up hostilities in a region that appeared to be 
teetering toward another all-out war, even as Israel continues to battle Hamas 
in the Gaza Strip.

   Israel said Wednesday its air force had struck some 280 Hezbollah targets 
across Lebanon by early afternoon, including launchers used to fire rockets on 
the northern Israeli cities of Safed and Nahariya.

   In the southern Israeli city of Eilat, a building at the port was struck by 
a drone, an attack that injured two people and was claimed by an umbrella group 
for Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. A second drone was intercepted, the 
Israeli military said.

   Fleeing families have flocked to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, 
sleeping in schools turned into shelters, as well as in cars, parks and along 
the beach. Some sought to leave the country, causing a traffic jam at the 
border with Syria.

   The United Nations said more than 90,000 people have been displaced by five 
days of Israeli strikes. In all, 200,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon 
since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel nearly a year ago, 
drawing Israeli retaliation, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination 
of Humanitarian Affairs.

   Hezbollah's latest strikes included dozens of rockets fired Wednesday into 
northern Israel, the military said.

   Rocket fire over the past week has disrupted life for more than 1 million 
people across northern Israel, with schools closed and public gatherings 
restricted. Many restaurants and other businesses are shut in the coastal city 
of Haifa, and there are fewer people on the streets. Some who fled from 
communities near the border are coming under rocket fire again.

   Israel has moved thousands of troops who had been serving in Gaza to the 
northern border. It says Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, 
including some capable of striking anywhere in Israel.

   Cross-border fire began ramping up Sunday after pagers and walkie-talkies 
used by Hezbollah were attacked remotely, killing 39 people and wounded nearly 
3,000, many of them civilians. Lebanon blamed Israel, which has not confirmed 
or denied responsibility.

   The next day, Israel said its warplanes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets, 
destroying cruise missiles, long- and short-range rockets and attack drones, 
including weapons concealed in private homes. The strikes racked up the highest 
one-day death toll in Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising 
monthlong war in 2006.