"We are prepared for a ground invasion," 20-year-old Lior Papismadov said during a break with his tank unit in a wooded area near the border. "We don't know if it's going to happen, but we are preparing."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the U.N. General Assembly on Friday that Israel would "fight until we achieve victory." Herzl Halevi, Israel's chief of staff, told troops this week to prepare to "enter enemy territory."
While diplomats scrambled to avert all-out war, the deadly Israeli strike in crowded southern Beirut targeted Hezbollah's leader, Hasan Nasrallah, amid a week of punishing air attacks.
The IDF's morale was high, but soldiers and residents in the north felt ready for a fight, indicating a shift in the national readiness for conflict.
Collection
[
|
...
]