What will Israel target in Beirut's southern suburbs?
The scope of the authorization granted to the Israeli army for the expected attack on Beirut's southern suburbs remains unclear, Israeli newspaper Maariv reported on Monday.
It quoted an Israeli military official as saying that the army is currently working on "identifying and defining the targets designated for the attack on Beirut's southern suburbs, and as soon as they are approved, according to the procedures of the Air Force and the Operations Division, the Israeli army will begin its operation."
The official explained that the military leadership intends to designate a variety of objectives for the attack, which fall into three main categories.
These include "human targets" for assassination, which "comprise a long list of senior Hezbollah officials, most notably the party's Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, whom Defense Minister Israel Katz repeatedly stated in the days leading up to the ceasefire was a target for elimination," the official said.
The second category is "command and control centers," where the Israeli army intends to "sever the organization's command and control network."
"The army is aware that the organization's leaders operate from headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut and the Bekaa Valley, from where they relay instructions to forward headquarters in Tyre and Sidon, from which operations and attacks against Israeli forces and Israeli territory are launched," the official said.
He also mentioned "weapons depots and apartments where Hezbollah stores various types of missiles, as well as drone depots, and even laboratories and technological systems used by Hezbollah to operate against Israeli forces."
The newspaper explained that "estimates indicate that the Israeli army will begin operations in Beirut's airspace in the near future."
"As of now, the size and scope of the authorization given by the political leadership to the Israeli army is not yet clear. Is it about isolated and symbolic attacks? Or about a large-scale operation aimed at inflicting serious damage on Hezbollah's center of gravity in Lebanon?" Maariv wondered.
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