The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported on Thursday evening that the Israeli army has completed, in recent weeks, the preparation of a plan for a large-scale attack on Hezbollah positions, should the Lebanese government and army fail to fulfil their commitment to dismantle the group’s weapons by the end of 2025.
According to the broadcaster, citing unnamed Israeli security sources, the plan was prepared by the army’s leadership in coordination with the Northern Command and the intelligence and operations directorates, as part of its readiness for the possible collapse of the political efforts led by Beirut to disarm Hezbollah.
The same sources added that the Israeli Air Force conducted extensive training exercises in recent days inside Israeli airspace and over the Mediterranean Sea, involving fighter jets, with the aim of raising readiness for the potential execution of a military operation in southern Lebanon.
The broadcaster quoted a senior security official as saying that Israel had informed the United States it would act on its own to disarm Hezbollah if the effort was not carried out effectively, even if such an action resulted in days of fighting or renewed clashes on the northern front.
The official added that Washington conveyed the Israeli warning to the Lebanese side, but Beirut clarified that the process is complex and requires additional time to meet the stated requirements.
This is the second time in two weeks that Israeli media speaks of a plan to expand operations against Hezbollah.
On 30 November, Channel 13 reported that the Israeli army had presented an operational plan to escalate attacks against Hezbollah during a special meeting attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with several ministers and security officials.
This comes despite the fact that Israel continues to violate, on an almost daily basis, the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah that has been in force since 27 November 2024, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries in addition to massive material destruction.
Hezbollah Responds
The latest report by the Israeli broadcaster came just hours after the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, representing Hezbollah in parliament, criticised the Lebanese authorities for what it described as another misstep when they named a civilian to participate in the mechanism committee overseeing the ceasefire agreement.
In a statement quoted by the Lebanese National News Agency, the bloc said that “this step contradicts even previous official positions, which linked civilian participation to the cessation of hostilities”.
The mechanism committee was established under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah to monitor its implementation. It includes Lebanon, France, Israel, the United States, and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
On 5 August, the Lebanese Cabinet approved restricting all weapons, including those held by Hezbollah, to the hands of the state, and tasked the army with developing and implementing a plan before the end of 2025.
However, Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem has repeatedly stated that the party rejects this demand and insists on a complete Israeli withdrawal from all Lebanese territory.
British Position
In this context, the United Kingdom’s Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Hamish Falconer, expressed on Thursday his country’s readiness to assist Lebanon in preventing Israel from carrying out its escalatory threats.
The British minister affirmed the UK’s “readiness to support the Lebanese army so it can implement the government’s decision to assert sovereignty over all Lebanese territory and ensure that weapons remain solely in the hands of legitimate state forces”.
The ceasefire agreement, which came into effect nearly a year ago, was intended to end the Israeli offensive on Lebanon launched in October 2023, which escalated into a full-scale war by September 2024, resulting in more than 4,000 deaths and over 17,000 injuries.
Israel continues to challenge the agreement by maintaining its occupation of five Lebanese hills in the south seized during the most recent war, in addition to other Lebanese areas it has occupied for decades.
