Israeli army launches ground offensive in Lebanon - Residents react: Video
On Tuesday, October 1, the Israeli army announced the launch of a ground offensive in Lebanon, amid significant escalation in the conflict after weeks of intense airstrikes that resulted in hundreds of deaths.
However, the Lebanese army quickly denied any Israeli ground incursion had taken place.
“We have not observed any penetration by Israeli enemy forces into Lebanese territory,” a Lebanese army source told AFP. Both United Nations peacekeepers and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah also denied that any ground offensive had begun.
In response to the escalating conflict, residents of Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city, voiced their reactions to the Israeli military's actions. Slomi, a vacationer in Haifa, commented, "The land entry to Lebanon should probably be done, but I hope the military action will not expand or be permanent. Just as we knew how to enter, we will also know how to leave quickly."
Another resident, 63-year-old retired doctor Maymon Levi, expressed support for the ground operation. "We had to enter from the ground. The Air Force cannot end the war alone. We know there will be losses, and we hope there won’t be many, but entering Lebanon was necessary," Levi said.
Firefighter Yossi Cohen took a more aggressive stance, stating: "We need absolute silence. That means cleaning the area completely. If we must, we will reach Beirut. We have the patience and the strength—we are the strongest army in the world."
Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has claimed over 40,000 lives, most of them women and children—Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been engaged in intense cross-border fighting.
The conflict saw a particularly deadly turn with a massive Israeli airstrike on Beirut that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday, September 27.
The ongoing tensions have led to multiple evacuations, particularly in southern Lebanon, as the situation continues to unfold with no clear resolution in sight.
