Placards indicate the names of the diseased at a makeshift cemetery, parts of which the Israeli army reportedly bulldozed to exhume bodies, in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City.—AFP
Placards indicate the names of the diseased at a makeshift cemetery, parts of which the Israeli army reportedly bulldozed to exhume bodies, in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City.—AFP

JERUSALEM: Israeli troops will “very soon go into action” near the country’s northern border with Lebanon, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday, as tensions surge amid the crisis in Gaza.

Gallant told troops near the border with the besieged Gaza Strip that others were being deployed to Israel’s north.

“They will very soon go into action […] so the forces in the north are reinforced,” Gallant said, according to video released by his office.

He added that reservists would be gradually released “to prepare and come ready” for future operations.

Since the Israeli invasion against Gaza on Oct 7, the Lebanese-Israeli border has seen near-daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, a Hamas ally.

Hezbollah on Monday claimed responsibility for 10 attacks on Israeli army positions near the border, using Iranian-made Falaq-1 rockets. Israel has not reported any strikes on military sites in the north.

Israel’s army chief Herzi Halevi said earlier this month that the likelihood of war on the northern border has become “much higher”.

“I don’t know when the war in the north is, I can tell you that the likelihood of it happening in the coming months is much higher than it was in the past,” Halevi said.

More than 200 people, most of them Hezbollah members, have been killed in south Lebanon by Israeli fire since October 7, according to a tally.

On the Israeli side of the border, nine soldiers and six civilians have been killed, according to Israeli officials.

Gallant claimed that Gaza fighters were running out of supplies and ammunition, but the war against Hamas “will take months”.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2024

Opinion

Editorial

Maulana’s message
Updated 11 Mar, 2025

Maulana’s message

The problem now is that most jihadi fighters, ideologues refuse to end their "struggle" on advice of state or mainstream clerics.
President’s speech
11 Mar, 2025

President’s speech

PRESIDENT Asif Zardari, addressing Monday’s joint session of parliament to mark the start of a new parliamentary...
Indian takeover
11 Mar, 2025

Indian takeover

BY the time the Champions Trophy final ended, the only indicators that the tournament had been hosted by Pakistan...
Mosquito season
10 Mar, 2025

Mosquito season

AS temperatures rise, the threat of dengue looms large over Pakistan. Its warning signs have already arrived. Dengue...
Reckless rhetoric
10 Mar, 2025

Reckless rhetoric

ONCE again, the Indian leadership gave in to their worst impulses, with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar...
Water scarcity
Updated 10 Mar, 2025

Water scarcity

The need to meet climate challenge is even greater when Pakistan is prone to multiple disastrous events at the same time.