TEL AVIV, September 19. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces does not plan a major invasion of southern Lebanon in the near future, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Several sources told the newspaper that the recent waves of deadly detonations of electronic devices across Lebanon, including pagers and radios used by Hezbollah members, was originally devised as a part of a larger Israeli operation. Under the plan, the mass device sabotage was to start simultaneously with that bigger operation.
However, the sources said, the plan may have been executed prematurely out of fears that Hezbollah started to discover the details of the potential attack. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the device explosions or commented on them in any way.
The sources indicated that the IDF is now allegedly under instructions from the Israeli government to wait and see what Hezbollah will do next, according to the newspaper. If Hezbollah shows signs of preparing for a significant strike on Israel, there are indications that the military would preempt this threat as it did at the end of August, the report said.
The sources told the Jerusalem Post that the IDF and the government are concerned about the vast inventory of rockets in possession of Hezbollah, which numbered 150,000 units before the war. Israel is also worried that the conflict could escalate into a wider regional war that would involve Iran and its other proxies, according to the report.