Israeli media reported Monday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will not aid any potential American ground operation inside Iran; Israeli troops are instead being sent to southern Lebanon.
Israeli Channel 12 quoted official sources stating, “In case of a U.S. ground operation in Iran, Israeli soldiers will not be participating on the ground.”
The report says that if there were an American ground operation, only American troops would be put in harm’s way on the ground. Israel instead would provide airstrikes, intelligence sharing, and special operations support. Israel has reportedly drawn a firm red line against sending ground troops.
Trump warned Monday in a Truth Social post that if an agreement is not reached and the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened immediately, the United States would respond by “blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched.’”
In lieu of providing troops in an operation against Iran, Israel has sent more troops into southern Lebanon as its ground invasion against the country has expanded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the military planned to create a “larger buffer zone” in southern Lebanon to combat a missile threat from the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.
The United Nations found that more than 1.2 million people have been forced out of their homes since the beginning of March, which raises concerns about a rising humanitarian crisis.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has promised that the group will continue fighting “without limits” against what he has described an “an enemy that occupies land and continues daily aggression.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a staunch neoconservative and strong advocate for the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, was reportedly seen at Disney World as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been shut down and the war against Iran rages on.
The senator, who is up for reelection this cycle, said he was invited “to a meeting in South Florida with” United States envoy Steve Witkoff “to talk about the possibility of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel.”
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