Assessment: IDF will reach Litani in week
(VIDEO) How long will it take troops to reach Litani River ? How many forces can Hizbullah recruit? Senior IDF officers provides answers
Against the backdrop of difficult reports of a rising number of IDF casualties in battles across south Lebanon, the cabinet approved widening the military offensive targeting Hizbullah rocket launchers throughout the region.
Nine cabinet ministers voted in favor of the expanded incursion and three – MKs Ophir Pines, Shimon Peres and Eli Yishai – abstained.
The cabinet authorized Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz to decide the scale and borders of the operation. In recent days the army recommended extending the offensive to the southern banks of the Litani River.
The senior officer assessed that roughly 3,000 to 4,000 Hizbullah operatives were in the area, divided among dozens of bases of operation. The Hizbullah terrorists were working from within an extremely organized infrastructure, the officer said.
IDF tank in Lebanon (Photo: Reuters)
He note that there were Hizbullah operatives to the north of the Litani as well, although they numbered only in the hundreds. All in all, with full recruitment Hizbullah could reach a force of 8,000 strong.
Industry, Labor and Trade Minister Minister Eli Yishai noted upon leaving the meeting, "The defense minister and prime minister will decide on the precise timing within which the army operation will be expanded. In my assessment, it will last about 30 days. We are at war and it must be expanded. It is right to do so."
With that, Yishai added that he thought the offensive should be performed chiefly from the air. "We won in the battle against Hizbullah, but combating Katyushas is different, and therefore we must act aggressively and not neglect air attacks. In my opinion, we should continue taking out villages from the air when we know for certain that rockets are being fired from there."
Up until now, IDF forces have advanced 12 kilometers (about 7.5 miles) into Lebanese territory. With the expansion of the operation, and if forces do reach the Litani River, IDF troops will take charge of the territory from which an estimated 70 percent of rockets are fired at Israel.
