IDF Chief of Staff LTG Herzi Halevi said on Wednesday that as the IDF strikes in Lebanon, ground troops continue to prepare for a ground offensive.
Halevi visited the brigade exercise of the 7th Brigade at the northern border along with the Commanding Officer of the Northern Command, the Commanding Officer of the 98th Division, the Commanding Officer of the Ground Forces Training Center, the Commanding Officer of the 7th Brigade, and additional commanders.
"You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day. This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah. Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves," he told the commanders.
Halevi added: "Today, we will continue, we are not stopping; we keep striking and hitting them everywhere. The goal is very clear—to safely return the residents of the north. To achieve that, we are preparing the process of a maneuver, which means your military boots, your maneuvering boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts, with underground infrastructure, staging points, and launchpads into our territory and carry out attacks on Israeli civilians."
He concluded: "Your entry into those areas with force and your encounter with Hezbollah operatives will show them what it means to face a professional, highly skilled, and battle-experienced force. You are coming in much stronger and far more experienced than they are. You will go in, destroy the enemy there, and decisively destroy their infrastructure. These are the things that will allow us to safely return the residents of the north afterward."