As dawn breaks on the fourth day of the conflict, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said that its military is authorized to advance and take control of additional positions in Lebanon. After the November 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah, Israel has kept ground troops in Lebanon at five vantage points where the group operates.
An Israeli military spokesman added its ground forces deployed to the southern Lebanon border area are "part of our forward defensive posture", and that Israeli strikes against Iran would continue simultaneously. Tthe move is reportedly not part of a large-scale ground invasion, but rather was a “tactical measure on the border”.
“The IDF is working to create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel,” the spokesman said. "We are prepared to operate against Iran for weeks," the spokesman said, and that it was not likely Israel would deploy ground forces to Iran as it "was not practical".
The Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister has said Donald Trump’s remarks about the UK do not “negate the fact that we make decisions on the basis of legality and British interest”. Asked whether he accepted the US was frustrated, Darren Jones told Sky News: “Well I’ve seen the president’s words but that doesn’t really negate the fact that we make decisions, as I say, on the basis of legality and British interest.
“We were content to offer bases at Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford, because evidently, the operations the Americans will run from those airfields will reduce the risk to British citizens and British assets in the region, and that’s why we agreed to the request to use those bases on that basis alone. “But the Prime Minister is very clear that we were not involved in that first strike and we’re not kind of going to war with Iran or getting involved in a wider set of activities". Asked whether the UK’s assessment was that there was not a legal basis for the initial military action over the weekend, Mr Jones said: “We were not involved in the first wave because it didn’t meet the test the Prime Minister’s set out".
FULL ARTICLE AT: https://www.gbnews.com/news/world/iran-latest-raf-akrotiri-donald-trump-strikes-israel-hezbollah-lebanon-saudi-arabia
