Israel troops massing on Lebanese border

Israeli troops and tanks line up on a road near the Israeli town of Avivim, near the Lebanese border, Friday July 21, 2006. Israel massed tanks and troops on the border, called up reserves and warned civilians to flee Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon as it prepared Friday for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone.(AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Well, expect the Israelis to start invading Lebanon--again--in the next couple of days. From Yahoo News:

BEIRUT, Lebanon--Israel massed tanks and troops on the border, called up reserves and warned civilians to flee Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon as it prepared Friday for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone.

The army's chief of staff said forces would conduct ground operations as needed in Lebanon, but they would be "limited." Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz also said nearly 100 Hezbollah guerrillas have been killed in the offensive in Lebanon.

Expect to see the Israeli invasion to take place over this weekend--perhaps Saturday or Sunday when the news will be slow. Of course, the timing of this invasion will depend on how fast the Israelis will be able to position its men and equipment along the Lebanese-Israeli border, but I would be that they have been planning this ever since hostilities erupted against Hezbollah a week ago. So far, the Israeli military has been trading rocket, artillery and air strikes against Hezbollah militia's rocket strikes in southern Lebanon. And while there may have been some cross-border raids by both sides, the Israelis have yet to march across the Lebanese border in sufficient force.

The real question here is what is going to happen once the Israelis cross the border? Will the weak Lebanese army try to defend Lebanon from this Israeli invasion? Will Syria be drawn militarily into this war? How will Iran react to this Israeli invasion, of which the obvious goal is to destroy Hezbollah--which has allied itself to Iran?

I don't know the answers.

UPDATE: I found some more information regarding this invasion preparation on CNN.com:

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Thousands of Israeli troops are massing on the Lebanese border as Lebanon's president warned Friday his army is "ready to defend" the country should Israel launch a full-scale ground invasion.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was calling up to 6,000 troops for reinforcements along the border as leaflets were dropped urging Lebanese residents to leave their homes and move north of the Litani River 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the Israeli border.

About 1,000 Israeli troops have so far been sent across the border for what commanders call pinpoint operations against Hezbollah strongholds, sources said.

Any invasion threatens to pull Lebanon's army into the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah militants.

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud told CNN the Lebanese army is "ready to defend" his country's territory.

"Of course, the army is going to defend its land," Lahoud said.

While the army "cannot be strong enough to be against Israel on the frontier," he said, "inside Lebanon, they can do a lot."

"We are not going to let anybody take our land. We are not going to let them come back and take it," he added.

So we can expect Lebanon to mobilize its army to defend itself against the upcoming Israeli invasion. Of course, the Lebanese army is also stuck between the Israelis and the Hezbollah militia units. So I'm not sure how effective the Lebanese will be in defending their country. In fact, I'm wondering if the Lebanese army will link up with Hezbollah militants and conduct guerrilla operations against the Israelis.

Finally, if the IDF is calling up 6,000 troops for this invasion, you can bet that they are going to move in 25-30 miles into southern Lebanon to create another security buffer, as well as wipe out whatever Hezbollah militants are sitting there waiting for this invasion. It is looking more like the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.