Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Herzi Halevi told troops that Israeli jets struck "to prepare the ground for your possible entry" and also to continue the strike against Hezbollah.
He told the troops to prepare. "The goal", he said, "is the safe return of the inhabitants of the north".
"To achieve this, we are preparing the process of a maneuver, which means that your military boots, your maneuver boots, enter the enemy's territory, enter the villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military posts, with underground infrastructure, station and launch points on our territory and carry out attacks on Israeli civilians.
Your entry into those areas by force, your confrontation with Hezbollah operatives, so that they understand what it means to face a professional, highly skilled, battle-experienced force. You are coming in much stronger and much more experienced than them," he told the Israeli soldiers.
For several days, Israeli jets have bombed several targets in Lebanon, claiming to have killed several senior Hezbollah commanders, following an electronic attack that blew up thousands of communications devices.