The Israeli army will “enter into Lebanon” after finishing the Rafah operation, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation has quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying.
Gaza's far-southern Rafah city is crowded with displaced civilians and world leaders have warned against an offensive there, fearing it would worsen a catastrophic humanitarian situation for the Palestinian territory's 2.4 million residents, many of whom are sheltering in Rafah along the Egyptian border.
Hezbollah had activated Lebanon’s southern front with Israel on October 8 in solidarity with the Palestinians and the Hamas Movement following the latter’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel and the brutal war that ensued.
There have been near-daily clashes between Hezbollah and Israel ever since, resulting in the death of at least 346 people in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also over 60 civilians.
Tens of thousands of people have also been displaced by the violence in Lebanon's south and Israel's north and Israel has threatened to launch a military operation against Hezbollah to push it away from the border.