IDF increases to three division in Lebanon, may increase to significantly more

The IDF on Monday expanded to three divisions in the invasion of southern Lebanon, adding Division 91 to Divisions 98 and 36. Sources added that the invasion force could grow in the future.

The maximum number that the IDF used in Gaza at the start of the war in October-November 2023 was five full divisions, and depending on varying division sizes, it could generally range between 25,000-50,000 troops, though the military did not specify any numbers in this particular case.

The massive increase after Division 98 invaded Lebanon alone on September 30 could signal an effort to destroy Hezbollah weapons in southern Lebanon more rapidly or an evolving strategy to present a more robust force for holding the area as a bargaining chip for future negotiations over a new security balance between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hitting Hezbollah in Beirut

The IDF also said that it had recently attacked over 100 Hezbollah targets in Beirut.

Military sources said that Hezbollah has had a massive project to try to bring its weapons from southern Lebanon to Beirut to protect them from the IDF invasion, but that the army has followed these efforts and is acting aggressively to thwart them.

IDF sources said that intelligence has been stronger with Hezbollah targets than it was with Hamas ones in bringing the Lebanese terror group to its knees much faster because of a mix of different factors, including Hezbollah’s structure as well as higher investment in intelligence on the terrorist group for years.

Hezbollah fired rockets at the North early on Monday, wounding nine, as Israeli forces looked poised to expand ground incursions into southern Lebanon on the first anniversary of October 7.

Iran-backed Hezbollah said it targeted a military base south of Haifa with Fadi 1 missiles and launched another strike on Tiberias, 65 km. (40 miles) away. Eight people were injured in Haifa and one in Tiberias.

The eight were evacuated to Rambam Health Care Campus for medical treatment. Among them was a lightly-wounded 13-year-old, while two others were moderately wounded from broken glass. Three people sustained light injuries from broken glass, two were lightly injured while heading to a protected area, and one person was treated for anxiety.

A 22-year-old was severely wounded in the Tiberias area from shrapnel and was evacuated to the Tzafon Medical Center for medical treatment.

Hezbollah said it targeted areas north of Haifa with missiles in a second assault later on Monday.

The IAF said the air force was carrying out extensive bombings of Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon, and that two soldiers were killed in border-area combat, bringing the military death toll inside Lebanon so far to 11: St.-Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Etay Azulay, 25, and Chief Warrant Officer (res.) Aviv Magen, 43.

It also said it carried out a targeted strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where a thick plume of smoke could be seen.

Lebanon’s health ministry said 10 firefighters were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a municipal building in the border-area town of Bint Jbeil, and that other aerial attacks on Sunday killed 22 people in a swathe of southern and eastern towns.

The IDF said it was partially easing some restrictions for residents in areas in northern Israel that were put in place after Hezbollah increased the intensity of its cross-border rocket fire from Lebanon in recent weeks.

The military said that the “activity scale will be changed from Limited Activity to Partial Activity,” adding that educational activities in those areas can now be held if they are adjacent to bomb shelters or other safe rooms.

“The rest of the country’s guidelines remain unchanged,” it said.

The IDF’s Arabic spokesperson also issued an urgent warning on Monday that people should avoid being on the beach or on boats on Lebanon’s coast from the Awali River southward until further notice.

Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs were hit with airstrikes overnight as Israel extended an aerial campaign on the area where Hezbollah has its headquarters.

Britain has withdrawn the families of its embassy staff working in Israel due to the escalation in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and the risk of a wider regional conflict.

Israel accuses Hezbollah of deliberately embedding its command centers and weaponry beneath residential buildings in the heart of Beirut.

Hezbollah initiated the conflict last year, launching rockets at Israel on October 8, 2023, in a show of solidarity with Hamas. After a year of exchanges of fire between the two adversaries that were mostly limited to the frontier region, the conflict has significantly escalated.