Axios: Israel plans major incursion, Boulos tasked with Lebanon-Israel talks file

Israel is planning to significantly expand its ground operation in Lebanon, aiming to seize the entire area south of the Litani River and dismantle Hezbollah's military infrastructure, Israeli and U.S. officials told U.S. news portal Axios.

This could be the largest Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon since 2006.

"We are going to do what we did in Gaza," a senior Israeli official told Axios, referring to the flattening of buildings Israel says Hezbollah uses to store weapons and launch attacks.

An operation of this size and scale could lead to a prolonged Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.

The Trump administration backs a major Israeli operation to disarm Hezbollah, but is also pressing to limit the damage to the Lebanese state and pushing for direct Israel-Lebanon talks on a postwar agreement, Axios said.

"Until days ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was still trying to contain the Lebanon escalation in order to stay focused on Iran," according to Israeli officials.

"That calculus changed Wednesday when Hezbollah launched more than 200 missiles in a massive coordinated attack with Iran, which fired dozens of its own," the officials said.

"Before this attack we were ready for a ceasefire in Lebanon, but after it there is no way back from a massive operation," a senior Israeli official said.

On Friday, the Israeli army announced it was sending reinforcements to the border and mobilizing additional reserves ahead of the expanded ground operation.

"The goal is to take over territory, push Hezbollah's forces north and away from the border, and dismantle its military positions and weapons depots in the villages," the Israeli official said.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Friday that the Lebanese government's diplomatic track had failed to achieve sovereignty or protect Lebanese civilians — and therefore "there is no solution except resistance."

"When the enemy threatens a ground invasion, we tell him: this is not a threat, but one of the traps you will fall into," Qassem said.

"Because every advance of a ground invasion allows the resistance fighters to achieve gains and results through close confrontation with the enemy," he noted.

The Israeli army has issued evacuation orders across southern Lebanon and — for the first time — to villages and towns north of the Litani River, as well as to Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Around 800,000 Lebanese civilians have been displaced since the start of the conflict. At least 773 people have been killed, many of them civilians.

The Trump administration asked Israel not to bomb Beirut's international airport or other Lebanese state infrastructure during the operation, U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios.

U.S. officials said Israel agreed to spare the airport — but stopped short of committing to protect other state infrastructure.

On Friday, the Israeli army bombed a bridge in southern Lebanon it claimed Hezbollah was using to move forces and weapons.

An Israeli official said they will consult with Washington on a case-by-case basis: "We feel we have full U.S. backing for this operation," the official told Axios.

"The Israelis have to do what they have to do to stop the Hezbollah shelling," a U.S. official said.

Netanyahu has tasked former minister Ron Dermer with managing the Lebanese file during the war, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.

Dermer will handle contacts with the Trump administration and lead any negotiations with the Lebanese government if direct talks begin in the coming weeks, the officials said.

On the American side, the file is being managed by Trump adviser Massad Boulos, who is also the U.S. envoy for Africa.

Boulos, who is Tiffany Trump's father-in-law, has been in contact with Israeli, Lebanese and Arab officials in recent days to facilitate direct talks between Israel and Lebanon.

The Lebanese government has indicated in recent days it is ready to hold direct talks on the terms of a ceasefire with Israel, immediately and without preconditions.

Sources told Axios the Trump administration wants to use those negotiations to lay the groundwork for a broader deal that would formally end the state of war between Israel and Lebanon — ongoing since 1948.