Israel is calling up two reserve brigades to the north of the occupied Palestinian territories along the Lebanese border.
The military announced that in a statement on Wednesday as Israel’s bombardment of Lebanese villages and towns continued for the third consecutive day.
An Israeli infantry brigade typically comprises about 1,000 to 2,000 soldiers, while an armored tank brigade has about 100 tanks.
According to the statement, Israel’s Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi told soldiers that the air attacks on Lebanon would continue in order to destroy the infrastructure and to prepare the way for a possible ground offensive.
In an apparent reference to the missile aimed at Tel Aviv, he said, “Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves.”
“You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day,” the Israeli military chief said. “This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”
Israeli strikes on Wednesday killed more than 50 people. That raised the death toll from the past three days to at least 620, with more than 2,000 people wounded.
In the most recent retaliatory strikes, the resistance movement Hezbollah said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Mossad.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Iraq, Egypt, Jordan said Israel was pushing the region “towards all-out war.”
The three Arab ministers met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and discussed the Israeli attacks in Lebanon and Gaza.
Israeli troops to become 'sitting ducks' for Hezbollah
The mayor of the northern Israeli settlement of Kiryat Shmona earlier highlighted Israel's vulnerability in the face of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force on the northern front.
Stern has repeatedly urged Israeli settlers not to return to the settlements in the north.
Israeli media have repeatedly said the northern settlements have been emptied of settlers, noting that it is doubtful whether the settlers will ever be able to return.
Meanwhile, a Lebanese political analyst on Wednesday praised Hezbollah’s operational capabilities, warning that Israeli forces will become "sitting ducks" for the Lebanese resistance group should they attempt a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
“Hezbollah's ability to rebound from the pager attacks and the assassination of its senior commanders is a testament to its operational resilience and capacity to withstand shocks to its command-and-control structure,” Amal Saad, a lecturer at Cardiff University, said in a post on X.