Katz warned Monday that the hundreds of thousands of people who have evacuated their homes south of the Litani River won’t be able to return until the “safety of residents” in northern Israel was “guaranteed.”
That raised fears about how long a wider ground offensive — or potential occupation of the area — might last.
“It will become bigger,” said Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies who previously served as the deputy director general and head of the Palestinian desk at the Israeli Strategic Affairs Ministry.
“Wider and bigger because we have to clear all the strip between the border and the Litani River,” said Michael, who is also a member of the Misgav Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy.
Displaced people have been sheltering in tents in facilities like this sports stadium in Beirut.Anwar Amro / AFP via Getty ImagesFears of a long-term
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