Despite U.S. efforts to mediate a ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli forces continue to expand their operations against the militant group with intense airstrikes and increasing ground incursions into Lebanese territory.

The current proposal to end the conflict is similar to the agreement that ended the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. It calls for an initial 60-day truce, during which Israeli troops would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would withdraw its armed presence. along the country’s border. southern border.

US envoys were in Israel to discuss the proposal last week, but its current status is now unclear in light of Donald Trump’s victory in the November 5 presidential election.

The diplomacy comes as fighting intensifies between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. The ever-escalating conflict, now in its 13th month, began when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israeli targets following the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 – the mass massacre and kidnapping in southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

One of Lebanon’s main flashpoints is the southern city of Khiam, which is located 6 kilometers north of the Israeli border and has both strategic and symbolic importance.

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Hezbollah has recently reported heavy fighting with Israeli troops in and around Khiam, marking the IDF’s deepest incursion into southern Lebanon since it launched a ground operation in late September.

While Hezbollah is capable of damaging Israel and its forces with missiles and drone systems, military analysts say the militant group could have difficulty maintaining control of Khiam given its tactical importance as well as variety of high-tech weaponry. of the IDF.

Agnés Hélou, a Lebanese analyst for Breaking Defence, a defense and security news outlet, says unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) have been identified around Khiam.

“We have seen the presence of UGVs like the M113, an (old) armored vehicle… which the Israelis transformed into an autonomous (operational) system,” he told Euronews.

“This can be used for surveillance or it can be exploited as a suicide ground drone, like a suicide armored vehicle that can explode.”

Yossi Kuperwasser, a former military intelligence chief and senior Israeli official, said Israel had UGVs that can “be used for different purposes,” including fighting in cities.

However, Kuperwasser, who is now an expert on Israeli intelligence and security, said he could not “go into the technical procedures” or give more details.

Growing Israeli incursion

Taking control of the Khiam area is a priority for the IDF for two key reasons, analysts say.

First, the region is home to Hezbollah tunnels and hideouts. Second, occupying Khiam would allow the IDF to open a broader front against Hezbollah. According to Kuperwasser, the line would extend from southern Lebanon to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

“(Khiam) and the surrounding area are geographically located at a strategic point in southern Lebanon,” he said.

“This whole area is mountainous, and that’s why controlling the villages and the roads is very important (for the IDF),” Kuperwasser explained, adding that the area would also be seen as a gateway to the Shebaa Farms, a complex of 39 squares. A several-kilometre stretch of land along the Israel-Lebanon border that Israel has controlled since 1967. Both Syria and Lebanon claim the territory is Lebanese.

Kuperwasser says the IDF’s official goal is to eliminate Hezbollah’s ballistic arsenal with surgical operations, using advanced weaponry and innovative artificial intelligence systems to eliminate the militants’ missiles and drone fleets.

Although Hezbollah’s overall military capabilities pale in comparison to that of the IDF, conflict experts consider the group to be the best-armed non-state actor in the world.

“They mainly use short-range missiles that they launch from nearby towns towards the places where the attacks or ongoing clashes are taking place,” Hélou said.

But experts say Hezbollah also has medium- and long-range missiles that are capable of hitting targets and infrastructure throughout Israel, and Kuperwasser said Israel is trying to gain ground in Lebanon and expand its front because the IDF had “underestimated” the range of some of Hezbollah’s weaponry.

For example, Hezbollah’s long-range anti-tank missiles are capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 9 kilometers, about double the range the IDF had previously expected, he said.

“This gives a different depth to the battlefield,” he added.

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Ultimately, the Biden administration has said it hopes a ceasefire can prevent the fighting in Lebanon from becoming as destructive as the conflict in Gaza.

According to the Lebanese government, more than 3,000 people have been killed by Israeli raids and attacks and at least 1.2 million have been displaced, most in recent months.

Recent exchanges of fire between the IDF and Hezbollah have been bloody, and Lebanese authorities said at least 20 people were killed on Tuesday following an attack. Israeli airstrike on Barjaa city just south of Beirut.

On Wednesday, Israeli troops carried out attacks on the southern city of Nabatieh, just 25 kilometers from Khiam, after issuing evacuation orders for specific neighborhoods.

Fears are growing in Lebanon that the conflict will soon escalate following the appointment of Israel Katz as Israel’s new defense minister by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week.

Katz has vowed to “defeat” Hezbollah to facilitate the return home of people in northern Israel who have been uprooted by the fighting.