Israel warns of Lebanon ground offensive as ceasefire calls grow

General says bombing campaign is preparation for troops to cross border

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Israel's most senior general said yesterday the country was preparing for a possible ground operation into Lebanon amid growing international pressure for a negotiated ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.

As an intense bombing campaign in Lebanon stretched into a third day, Israel's chief of staff, Maj Gen Herzi Halevi, said that the airstrikes were intended to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure and prepare for the possibility of Israeli troops crossing the border.

"We are preparing the process of a manoeuvre," Halevi told troops during a visit to Israel's north, "which means your military boots, your manoeuvring boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts, with underground infrastructure, staging points, and launchpads into our territory and carry out attacks on Israeli civilians." Despite Halevi's comments, however, a Pentagon spokesperson, Sabrina Singh, said a ground offensive did not appear imminent.

Earlier yesterday, Hezbollah aimed a long-range missile at Tel Aviv, drawing an Israeli warning that it was preparing a major response. Israel meanwhile targeted the mountains north of Beirut for the first time.

The US is increasing pressure for a pause in the fighting, with the president, Joe Biden, warning of the need to avoid escalation.

"An all-out war is possible," Biden told ABC. An opportunity existed "to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region." Biden, who has been widely criticised for mishandling the Middle East crisis, suggested that getting Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a ceasefire could help achieve a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.