‘It is a cleanup operation’: Alexander Tsinker on Israel’s ground operation in Lebanon

Speaking with Alpha News, Director of the Institute of Eastern Europe and the CIS in Israel Alexander Tsinker commented on Israel’s ground operation in Lebanon.

“As far as we can judge from the words of the military and political leadership, a partial military operation is being planned, and short-term at that. I believe that the so-called buffer zone is planned to be created in southern Lebanon, approximately from the Israeli border to the Litani River, beyond which, according to UN Resolution 1701, all troops must be withdrawn, except for the active Lebanese army, which is practically non-existent.

UN Resolution 1701 is a 2006 decision, according to which there should not have been any Hezbollah troops there, and for some reason, no one has done this from 2006 to 2024. Now Israel wants to do this to create a buffer zone and clear it of bandits, Hezbollah,” Tsinker said.

“The most interesting thing is that the operation has been going on for a day, but there have not been any specific confrontations or shootouts yet. The sides are avoiding this for now. There have been no military clashes between the Israeli army and Hezbollah militants so far today; there have been no shootouts. It is a cleanup operation,” Tsinker noted.

According to the expert, Iran is not interested in this war.

“As far as I understand, Iran is not very interested in this war because it understands that Israel will respond to it. And the situation that Iran is in today does not really push the new leadership, the new president, to start military actions. This situation itself and the risk that Israel will start military actions against Iran in response are the things that prevent Iran from starting military actions. And the worst thing for Iran is that Israel’s allies, the United States, which brought a fleet and a nuclear submarine to the Mediterranean, will respond to Iran. All this stops Iran,” Tsinker concluded.