A top Israeli military official hinted to soldiers of a possible ground invasion as the United States and France drafted a cease-fire proposal to try to stave off a broader conflict.
The Lebanese militia Hezbollah on Wednesday fired a missile deep into Israel, targeting Tel Aviv for the first time, as the Israeli military called up two brigades of reserve soldiers and sent them north toward the border with Lebanon.
The mobilization came as the military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, suggested that Israel was preparing for the possibility of a ground invasion in Lebanon as part of its stepped-up campaign to stop Hezbollah from firing missiles and drones at Israel.
“You hear the jets overhead — we have been striking all day,” General Halevi told soldiers who were conducting military exercises along the Israeli-Lebanese border. “This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”
Praising the soldiers as more experienced and skilled than Hezbollah’s fighters, he said: “You go in, destroy the enemy there and decisively destroy their infrastructure.”
It was not clear whether General Halevi was trying to unnerve Hezbollah or hinting at an actual battle plan being weighed by Israeli leaders.
