Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt broke down the significance of the Israel Defense Forces cross-border raids into Lebanon, telling Newsmax on Tuesday that the IDF is conducting a "mop-up operation" after decimating terror group Hezbollah.
"We knew this ground invasion was going to come once the battle space was prepared," Holt said during an appearance on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "What you saw yesterday was the first elements of scouting missions going in. However, they've been tremendously successful. They've already taken up a lot of villages and secured them. They're looking for weapons right now. This is a mop-up operation. They've annihilated the entire command structure of Hezbollah."
Israel's ground incursion into Lebanon seemed to be getting underway in the early morning hours of Tuesday, as the IDF said troops began carrying out "limited raids" on Hezbollah targets near the border area.
In a statement, the military said that the targets were located in border villages that posed "an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel." Ground forces were being supported by "precise strikes" conducted by the air force and artillery, it said.
Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed by Israel on Friday, in one of the heaviest blows to both the terror group and its backer, Iran, in decades.
Holt said the new developments were "extremely important because this cauldron of a region is being taken care of by a very successful campaign, so far, by Israel."
"They're going to a place called victory, not cease-fire, and what's happening is it's got a debilitating effect on the ayatollah and Iran," he said of the Israeli campaign to cripple Tehran's terror operation in the Middle East. "They're [Iran] now looking, not just at Israel, but their own population, which may say, 'You know, you guys look weak, too.' And maybe this is the time that this regime is going to fall."
In his first public statement since Nasrallah's death, Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem said on Monday that "the resistance forces are ready for a ground engagement."
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Nicole Wells ✉
Nicole Wells, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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