Smoke rises from the southern Lebanese town of Khiam, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as pictured from Marjayoun, near the border with Israel, Sept. 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Karamallah Dahe

The Israeli military said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Thursday, shortly before the Iran-backed terrorist organization’s leader was due to give a speech.

It also said the military chief of staff had approved plans for Israel’s north, which borders Lebanon.

The military said Hezbollah had turned southern Lebanon into a combat zone.

“For decades, Hezbollah has weaponized civilian homes, dug tunnels beneath them, and used civilians as human shields,” it said.

“The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] is operating to bring security to northern Israel in order to enable the return of residents to their homes, as well as to achieve all of the war goals,” it said.

A separate military statement said that the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, had recently completed approval of plans for the northern arena.

Hezbollah has fired barrages of rockets, missiles, and drones at northern Israel almost daily following the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists on the Jewish state’s southern region. Since then, both sides have been exchanging fire constantly while avoiding a major escalation as war rages in Gaza to the south.

About 80,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate their homes in northern Israel and flee to other parts of the country amid the unrelenting attacks from Hezbollah.

Israeli leaders have said they seek a diplomatic resolution to the conflict with Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon but are prepared to use large-scale military force if needed to ensure all citizens can safely return to their homes.

On Monday night, Israel’s security cabinet expanded its war goals to include returning the displaced Israelis from the north.

The latest Israeli military statements were released on Thursday a few minutes before Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was due to deliver a speech for the first time since thousands of explosions in booby-trapped radios and pagers hit the Iran-backed Lebanese group.

The attacks on Hezbollah‘s communications equipment killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000, raising fears that a full-blown war was imminent.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind the attacks but multiple security sources have said they were carried out by its spy agency Mossad.

Still, Nasrallah said the explosions “crossed all red lines” and vowed revenge.

“There is no doubt that we have been subjected to a major security and military blow that is unprecedented in the history of the resistance and unprecedented in the history of Lebanon,” Nasrallah said in his TV address, filmed at an undisclosed location. “This type of killing, targeting and crime may be unprecedented in the world.”

“The enemy went beyond all controls, laws and morals,” he continued, adding the attacks “could be considered war crimes or a declaration or war, they could be called anything and they deserve to be called anything. Of course that was the intention of the enemy.”

Earlier on Thursday, 10 people were wounded in northern Israel in two separate attacks by Hezbollah, according to Hebrew media reports.

In the morning, eight people were wounded when two anti-tank missiles fired from Lebanon struck in Israel’s Upper Galilee. Then in the afternoon, two people were wounded by a drone strike near the town of Ya’ara in the Western Galilee.

“An explosive UAV was identified falling adjacent to the community of Ya’ara,” the IDF said. “No fragments were identified falling in the area of the community.”

The military also said that on Thursday afternoon a drone was detected crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for launching the drones, saying they were fired at artillery positions in revenge for IDF strikes in southern Lebanon.