Military Chief of Staff Herchi Halevi said on Tuesday that Israel is ready for a military offensive along the northern border with Lebanon and the decision is very close.

“We are prepared, after extensive training, for an attack in the north,” he said in a taped statement, adding that “we are close to the decision point.”

“We have been under attack for eight months and Hezbollah is paying a heavy price. It has increased its forces in the last few days and we are prepared after a very good preparation process… to proceed with an attack in the north”, he emphasized.

Halevi’s statements followed those of Israel’s far-right Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, who argued today that the Israeli armed forces should step up their operations on the northern border, urging war against Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

“All Hezbollah strongholds must be burned and destroyed. War!”, was the message he sent through the X platform (formerly Twitter), commenting on the large fires that Hezbollah’s strikes have caused in northern Israel.

It is unacceptable that some areas of Israel are being attacked and evacuated, while there is peace in Lebanon, Itamar Ben Gvir argued during his visit to Kiryat Shmona. This particular city, in the northern part of Israel, is frequently attacked from the territory of Lebanon.

Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, there have been almost daily hostilities between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, which backs the Palestinian Islamist movement. Since then, Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed at least 455 people, 89 of whom have been confirmed as civilians, according to an AFP tally. In the same period, 25 people have been killed in Israel, fourteen soldiers and eleven civilians, according to the Israeli authorities.

It is estimated that nearly 150,000 residents of border areas, along Israel’s border with Lebanon, have fled their homes due to the conflicts.