Israel forges ahead on ground incursion against Hezbollah in Lebanon

Israel is forging ahead with its incursion into Lebanon, in what it claims is a vital fight against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group. The operation, which began on Monday, is separate from the joint U.S.-Israel war on Iran , but the dynamics of each conflict zone will inevitably intersect with each other.

The Israeli deployment is expected to last several weeks and is part of a broader effort to dismantle Hezbollah’s military capabilities and eradicate its fighters in the area, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces asserted to Military Times. The offensive is intended to “remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel,” the spokesperson said.

President Donald Trump ’s attention remains fixed on the war in Iran but a White House official affirmed to Military Times that the U.S. supports the Israeli campaign to disarm Hezbollah and other non-state actors in Lebanon, calling it “crucial” for regional stability.

The U.S. also does not skimp on ensuring Israel’s security. A 2025 Congressional report noted that Washington has provided Jerusalem $174 billion in bilateral assistance and missile defense funding to date — underscoring the deep strategic ties that sustain Israeli operations.

The question of Israel’s influence on U.S. foreign policy has become even more heated since the war on Iran began. Prominent conservative commentators have suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has, in effect, maneuvered the U.S. into fighting an unnecessary war with Iran.

The politics of the issue became even sharper on Tuesday when Trump’s director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, quit in protest . In his resignation letter, which he published on social media, Kent claimed that “high ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media” had created an echo chamber to “deceive” Trump into believing there was an imminent threat from Iran. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in turn, accused Kent of “virulent anti-Semitism” in the resignation letter.

For years, Netanyahu fulminated against Iran’s nuclear program but feared any direct confrontation with Tehran would spark retaliation from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

“Iran established an armed and trained Hezbollah in Lebanon to serve as a deterrent and to be able to hit and hurt Israel in a major way,” Paul Salem, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said in an interview with Military Times. “That was always Israel’s main concern: If we were to confront Iran, Hezbollah could hit [back] really hard.”

Hezbollah’s ideology centers on its enmity toward Israel and the West, which it casts as existential enemies. The Islamic Republic has provided Hezbollah with financing, training and advanced weaponry — propelling the group’s rise, over years, to become the region’s most powerful non-state actor.

However, Hezbollah suffered a devastating blow to its strength in September 2024, when thousands of pagers used by the group’s members detonated , having been meddled with by Israel. Before and since then, Hezbollah has been weakened by Israeli assaults.

A ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel largely held from November 2024 until the U.S.-Israeli operation on Feb. 28 that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei . The assassination triggered Hezbollah to fire rockets at Israel on March 2, prompting retaliatory strikes from Israel.

The past two weeks of fighting in Lebanon have left nearly 1,000 dead and forced more than 1 million people — roughly a quarter of the country’s population — to flee their homes. Israel’s leaders have signaled the next phase of the conflict could resemble its operations in the Gaza Strip, where much of the enclave has since been leveled by the IDF.

“I think they can do that,” Salem, of the Middle East Institute, said. “They will be challenged by Hezbollah, so it won’t be calm and uncontested, but they have the predominant power until or unless there is possibly a ceasefire at some point.”

Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, in a joint statement , warned that a significant Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon would have “devastating humanitarian consequences and could lead to a protracted conflict.”

A State Department spokesperson told Military Times on Thursday that Ambassador Michel Issa is spearheading all diplomacy with Lebanon. The spokesperson reaffirmed the U.S. “fully supports” Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah, while also emphasizing that Washington backs the Lebanese government’s efforts to reassert sovereignty over the entire country.

Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon.

以色列正加紧推进其对黎巴嫩的军事行动，声称这是一场打击伊朗支持的武装组织真主党的至关重要的战斗。此次行动于周一开始，与美以联合对伊朗的战争无关，但两个冲突地区的局势发展必然会相互交织。

以色列国防军发言人向《军事时报》透露，此次以色列军事部署预计将持续数周，是旨在瓦解真主党军事能力并消灭其在该地区武装人员的更广泛行动的一部分。该发言人表示，此次攻势旨在“消除威胁，并为以色列北部居民创造额外的安全保障”。

尽管唐纳德·特朗普总统的注意力仍然集中在伊朗战争上，但一位白宫官员向《军事时报》证实，美国支持以色列解除黎巴嫩真主党和其他非国家行为体武装的行动，称其对地区稳定“至关重要”。

美国在确保以色列安全方面也毫不吝惜投入。一份2025年的国会报告指出，迄今为止，华盛顿已向耶路撒冷提供了1740亿美元的双边援助和导弹防御资金——这凸显了支撑以色列行动的深厚战略联系。

自伊朗战争爆发以来，以色列对美国外交政策的影响问题变得更加激烈。一些知名的保守派评论员认为，以色列总理内塔尼亚胡实际上是在幕后操纵美国，使其卷入了一场不必要的伊朗战争。

周二，特朗普的国家反恐中心主任乔·肯特辞职以示抗议，使得这一问题的政治性进一步升级。肯特在社交媒体上发布的辞职信中声称，“以色列高级官员和美国媒体的有影响力人士”制造了一个回音室效应，试图“欺骗”特朗普，让他相信伊朗构成迫在眉睫的威胁。肯塔基州共和党参议员米奇·麦康奈尔则反过来指责肯特在辞职信中“带有强烈的反犹主义色彩”。

多年来，内塔尼亚胡一直强烈反对伊朗的核计划，但他担心与德黑兰的任何直接对抗都会引发黎巴嫩南部真主党的报复。

“伊朗在黎巴嫩建立了一支武装且训练有素的真主党，其目的是为了威慑以色列，并能够对以色列造成重大打击，”中东研究所高级研究员保罗·萨勒姆在接受《军事时报》采访时表示。“这始终是以色列的主要担忧：如果我们与伊朗对抗，真主党可能会进行猛烈反击。”

真主党的意识形态核心是敌视以色列和西方，将其视为生存敌人。伊朗伊斯兰共和国向真主党提供资金、训练和先进武器，推动该组织在多年发展中成为该地区最强大的非国家行为体。

然而，2024年9月，真主党遭受重创，数千个成员使用的寻呼机在以色列的干预下爆炸。在此之前和之后，真主党一直受到以色列袭击的削弱。

真主党与以色列之间的停火协议从2024年11月起基本维持到2月28日美以联合军事行动刺杀伊朗最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊为止。此次暗杀事件引发真主党于3月2日向以色列发射火箭弹，以色列随即进行报复性打击。

过去两周黎巴嫩的冲突已造成近千人死亡，超过一百万人——约占该国人口的四分之一——被迫逃离家园。以色列领导人已发出信号，下一阶段的冲突可能类似于其在加沙地带的行动，该飞地的大部分地区已被以色列国防军夷为平地。

“我认为他们可以做到这一点，”中东研究所的萨利姆说。“他们会受到真主党的挑战，所以局势不会平静无阻，但除非在某个时候达成停火协议，否则他们掌握着主导力量。”

加拿大、法国、德国、意大利和英国在一份联合声明中警告说，以色列在黎巴嫩发动大规模地面进攻将造成“毁灭性的人道主义后果，并可能导致旷日持久的冲突”。

美国国务院发言人周四告诉《军事时报》，米歇尔·伊萨大使正在领导与黎巴嫩的所有外交工作。发言人重申，美国“完全支持”以色列有权自卫，对抗真主党，同时强调华盛顿支持黎巴嫩政府为重申对整个国家的主权所做的努力。

Tanya Noury 是《军事时报》和《防务新闻》的记者，她的报道主要集中在白宫和五角大楼。