'Humanitarian Calamity' Looms as US-Armed Israeli Forces Prepare to Invade Lebanon

Israeli forces appear poised to launch a ground invasion of Lebanon within days following a sustained bombing campaign that has killed more than a thousand people—including dozens of children—and displaced more than a million, heightening fears of a large-scale humanitarian disaster and a wider war that could consumer the entire region.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has already carried out what were described as "limited ground incursions" across the Lebanese border, but a larger invasion could be imminent given the positioning of Israeli troops and rhetoric from top Israeli officials.

"We will use all the means that may be required—your forces, other forces, from the air, from the sea, and on land," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Israeli troops on Monday.

The mayor of a Christian-majority Lebanese village located roughly six miles from the Lebanon-Israel border toldReuters that locals "had received calls apparently from the Israeli army telling them to evacuate the area as soon as possible."

Humanitarian groups have warned that a full-scale ground invasion would be a disaster for the Lebanese people, many of whom have seen their lives upended by Israeli attacks over the past two weeks.

"We are gravely concerned about the possibility of an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon," said Julie Mehigan, Christian Aid's head of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. "The patterns we're seeing from the attacks of the last few days are reminiscent of what we've seen in Gaza these last few months. Massive displacement and killing of civilians, whole families killed in their homes, and schools converted into shelters. All the while Gaza is continually being bombed from land, air, and sea."

"We are on the precipice of yet another humanitarian calamity in the region," Mehigan added.

"Not only is this administration sending more bombs aimed at them and other civilians, they're also helping Netanyahu cover up his crimes. It's despicable."

The Biden administration, which provided the 2,000-pound bombs that Israel used to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and dozens of civilians in an attack on Beirut late Friday, is reportedly prepared to give Israel approval to move troops into Lebanon as long as the invasion is "limited."

But the Israeli government, headed by far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has repeatedly disregarded the Biden administration's stated conditions. As The New York Timesobserved Monday, the administration wanted the Israeli military to "eschew major combat operations" in the southern Gaza city of Rafah earlier this year. The IDF went on to launch a massive assault on the city, rendering it uninhabitable.

Akbar Shahid Ahmed, HuffPost's senior diplomatic correspondent, reported Monday that the Biden administration is unlikely to "veto" Israeli plans for a ground invasion of Lebanon and noted he is hearing a "growing sense" that "an Israeli invasion of Lebanon with U.S. backing (based on the idea it will be limited) is coming."

The possibility of an imminent Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon has heightened concerns of a full-blown regional war with potentially devastating global implications. Hezbollah has pledged to retaliate against Israel for the assassination of Nasrallah, and Iran—which has thus far acted with restraint—could also decide to intervene as Lebanon's government works to prevent the military conflict from spiraling.

Craig Mokhiber, a human rights attorney and former director of the New York office of the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, wrote on social media Monday that "as Israel continues its genocide in Palestine, expands its murderous rampage into Lebanon (perhaps even launching a ground invasion to ethnically cleanse the south) the West cheers and arms them, Arab governments sleep, the U.N. looks the other way, the [International Criminal Court] stalls, the Global South offers only symbolic objections, and the world is dragged passively toward WWIII."

Israel's intensifying assault on Lebanon has sparked fresh calls for a halt to U.S. arms transfers to the Israeli military, which relies heavily on American-made weaponry.

Maurice Mitchell, national director of the U.S.-based Working Families Party, said in a statement Monday that Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon "mark an extreme escalation that further threatens the stability of the region" and expressed support for an effort led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to block recently approved arms sales.

"Despite the Israeli government's serious escalation in Lebanon and indiscriminate bombings in Gaza and the West Bank, President Biden continues to funnel billions in lethal military aid to the Israeli government without conditions, including $8.7 billion last week," said Mitchell. "This coupled with new reports that the Israeli government violated international law by deliberately blocking humanitarian aid to families in Gaza underscores the urgent need to stop the flow of offensive weapons to the Israeli government.”

Abbas Alawieh, a Lebanese American from Michigan and a co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement, said Monday that "every hour, I get messages from my family in Lebanon, asking when the American-funded bombs will stop."

"Not only is this administration sending more bombs aimed at them and other civilians, they're also helping Netanyahu cover up his crimes," said Alawieh. "It's despicable."