Day: June 20, 2024

SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE REPORTING — Has Israel decided on a new war? Late Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that plans for an attack against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group had been approved, and that the army had taken measures to “accelerate readiness in the field.” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote in a post on X that “we are very close to the moment of decision to change the rules against Hezbollah and Lebanon. In an all-out war, Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will be severely hit.”

That decision would open a major second front just over 100 miles north of Gaza, where a steady exchange of missiles and air attacks between Israel and Hezbollah has been gaining in intensity since October. In Israel, the attacks have forced some 90,000 people from their homes, ignited large forest fires, and shut down Northern Israel’s economy.