© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Israeli Troops Prepare to Widen Ground Operation

Israeli troops wait for orders to enter into southern Lebanon at a location near the Israeli-Lebanese border, Aug. 9, 2006.
Menahem Kahana
/
AFP/Getty Images
Israeli troops wait for orders to enter into southern Lebanon at a location near the Israeli-Lebanese border, Aug. 9, 2006.

Israel's Security Cabinet approved a plan Wednesday to greatly expand the Army's ground offensive in south Lebanon against Hezbollah. The plan calls for a wider push about 15 to 18 miles north to the Litani River to try to weaken the rocket-launching and ground-fighting capabilities of the militant Shiite militia.

But after a month of heavy fighting, Israeli forces continue to face stiff resistance. Four Israeli soldiers were killed overnight and Arab media report that 11 more Israeli soldiers were killed Wednesday. Many analysts say there's little reason to think that a wider ground operation will be quick or easy.

Nearly 70 Israeli soldiers have been killed so far, and Israelis are now bracing for more casualties. One Army commander reportedly estimated that as many as 200 soldiers could lose their lives in a push to the Litani River.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nassrallah, vowed to turn south Lebanon into a graveyard for Israel.

Hezbollah guerillas have been able to employ wire-guided anti-tank missiles with devastating effect. Army sources say that they're not just using the weapons against armored forces, but also against infantry in built-up areas. In addition, an Army official says it appears that Hezbollah commanders still maintain some level of "command and control" capability over their ground forces, despite weeks of heavy air and artillery fire.

According to Israeli Army Brig. Gen. Yossi Kupperwasser, Hezbollah is using guerrilla tactics but it is organized "like a real army."

"They have units just like a regular army. They have logistics, they have communications. They have an engineering corps, they have everything an army would have," Kupperwasser says.

After a month of fighting, and with more than 10,000 ground forces in Lebanon, Army officials say they think they've killed about 250 to 300 Hezbollah fighters. That number hardly matches the tough talk of "smashing" Hezbollah that some Israeli officials predicted at the start of the military operation.

Few here have any illusions that an expanded Israeli ground occupation will mean the end of Hezbollah as a fighting force.

"How do you defeat a guerrilla force? By capturing territory?" says Sholmo Brom, the Israeli Army's former chief of strategic planning. "We can capture every territory that we want to in Lebanon. But a guerrilla force -- when this happens, it either withdraws to areas that are not captured and continues its operations, or it melts into the civilian population and turns into a kind of insurgency. And that's what we see in Iraq."

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eric Westervelt is a San Francisco-based correspondent for NPR's National Desk. He has reported on major events for the network from wars and revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa to historic wildfires and terrorist attacks in the U.S.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Related Content