JERUSALEM – Signs of a third full-fledged war between Israel and the The US-designated terrorist group Hezbollah, which runs a state-within-a-state in Lebanon, is growing rapidly in strength. Israel has fought two previous wars against terrorist forces embedded in Lebanon, in 1982 and 2006, and a third war appears imminent.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have deployed their elite, battle-proven 98th Division from the southern Gaza war zone against Hamas in the north, a move that could be a precursor to what some are calling a ground invasion to root out Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon.

IDF Reserve Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi told Fox News Digital that war in the north against Hezbollah is imminent. “A few weeks ago, it was clear that Hamas is no longer a serious threat to Israel, because Israel has destroyed most of Hamas’ forces. This was a moment to decide to change the strategy and shift the center of gravity from the south to the north.”

ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES CONFIRM ‘TARGETED ATTACK’ ON BEIRUT

Rescue workers carry a body at the site of a rocket attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. ((AP Photo/Bilal Hussein))

The rapid movements unfolding in Israel, a country the size of New Jersey, come as the Jewish state’s foreign intelligence agency, Mossad, reportedly detonates electronic devices used by Hezbollah operatives in a scene straight out of a John le Carré spy novel. Hundreds of beepers used by Hezbollah members exploded Tuesday, killing 12 people, including two children, and wounding some 2,800 others.

Another wave of electronic devices exploded on Wednesday, killing at least 25 people and wounding more than 450. Hezbollah officials said the explosions included walkie-talkies and solar energy equipment.

HEZBOLLAH A GREATER CHALLENGE THAN HAMAS FOR ISRAEL: ‘CROWN JEWEL IN IRAN’S EMPIRE OF TERRORISM’

The Israeli military said on Thursday that it struck Hezbollah infrastructure sites in Lebanon. (Israeli Defense Forces)

“This was a moment to decide to change strategy and shift the center of gravity from the south to the north”

Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in heavy air warfare for the past 48 hours. Israel’s war cabinet has declared the return of as many as 100,000 Israelis forced to flee the north by Hezbollah attacks a key war objective.

Avivi, who heads the Israel Defense and Security Forum, noted that there is no way to safely return displaced Israelis to their homes in the north “without driving Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon and hitting Hezbollah hard – all of their capabilities throughout Lebanon.”

Israel Defense Forces troops operate close to the Lebanese border.

He said the chances of a diplomatic solution are “extremely slim due to the lack of international pressure and the US unwillingness to pose a credible military threat against Iran and Hezbollah.”

The United Nations has failed to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which demanded that Hezbollah be disarmed after the 2006 war against the Jewish state.

ISRAEL DESTROYS IRAN-BACKED HEZBOLLAH TERRORISTS IN SPECTACULAR PAGER BLOW-UP OPERATION: EXPERTS

In a new devastating setback for Hezbollah, members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan forces were killed in an Israeli army attack in Beirut on Friday.

IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani announced on X on Friday that “we eliminated Ibrahim Aqil earlier today in a precision strike in Beirut, Lebanon. At the time of the strike, Ibrahim Aqil and the approximately 10 Radwan commanders who were eliminated with him gathered underground – beneath a residential building in the heart of the Dahiyah neighborhood, hidden among Lebanese civilians – and used them as human shields.” The number of senior Radwan members killed has now been raised to 15.

Aqil was a wanted global Islamic terrorist with the blood of American servicemen on his hands. He was wanted by the United States for his alleged role in the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut. He is also believed to be linked to the taking of American hostages in Lebanon in the 1980s.

The Israeli military says it killed a top Hezbollah terrorist, Ibrahim Aqil, in an airstrike in Beirut on Friday. (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

Shoshani added: “They were planning more terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. Terrorist attacks like the 200 rockets fired at Israeli civilians today and many more. These commanders were also planning Hezbollah’s “Conquer the Galilee” attack plan, in which Hezbollah planned to infiltrate Israeli communities and murder innocent civilians.”

Hezbollah attacked Israel on October 8, a day after its ally Hamas invaded Israel and slaughtered nearly 1,200 people. Hezbollah’s attacks have killed more than 40 people in Israel, including 12 Israeli Druze children on a crowded soccer field in July.

“If Hezbollah cares about Lebanon’s future, it would do well to withdraw from the Israeli border”

Jonathan Conricus, a former IDF spokesman, told Fox News Digital: “If Israel had wanted to launch a full-fledged attack against Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, it would not have waited more than 11 months to do so. The IDF is striking missile launchers and military infrastructure in Lebanon after delivering a stunning and demoralizing blow by detonating communications equipment in what may be Israel’s latest attempt to pressure Hezbollah into agreeing to a diplomatic deal that could avert war.”

The aftermath of a Hezbollah rocket attack in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona on May 10, 2024. (Photo: Erez Bar Simon/TPS-IL.) (Erez Bar Simon/TPS-IL)

Conricus, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, added: “If Hezbollah cares about the future of Lebanon, it would do well to withdraw from the Israeli border and cease its aggression against Israel, and to disconnect its artificial connection to Hamas’s war on Israel. Ultimately, the Israeli authorities are obligated to facilitate the safe return of evacuated Israelis to their homes, either through a diplomatic deal or military action.”

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Hezbollah fighters form a human barrier during the funeral procession of slain top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr on the southern outskirts of Beirut on August 1, 2024. Hezbollah mourned Shukr, whose body was found under the rubble of a July 30 Israeli raid in southern Beirut that also killed five civilians, three women and two children, and wounded dozens, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said, amid growing fears of a wider conflict in the region. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI/AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Rami Mortada, Lebanon’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, told The Times of London that an Israeli invasion “is a doomsday scenario for everyone. It is absolutely a doomsday scenario for Lebanon.” He warned that Lebanon would not suffer alone in a new war.

Israeli war planners have been preparing for the latest conflict in the north for 17 years, since the last war against Hezbollah in 2006.

Fox News’ Timothy HJ Nerozzi contributed to this report.