Al Jazeera:
The Israeli military is sending more troops into southern Lebanon despite growing international concern about Israel’s deadly bombardment and push to deepen its invasion of Lebanese territory.
The Israeli military said in a social media post on Thursday that troops from Division 162 would operate in southern Lebanon “with the aim of expanding” a so-called “buffer zone” in the area.
Division 162 is joining two other army divisions already operating in southern Lebanon, it said in a social media post.
The deployment of additional troops comes a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military planned to create “a larger buffer zone” in southern Lebanon to push back a missile threat from the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Israel launched intensified attacks on its northern neighbour in early March after Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israeli territory following the February 28 assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the US-Israel war on Iran.
The Israeli military has carried out aerial and ground attacks across Lebanon while issuing mass forced displacement orders for residents of the country’s south, as well as several suburbs of the capital, Beirut.
