- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the expansion of his invasion of Lebanon in the latest escalation of the war after thousands of US troops arrived in the Middle East this weekend.
- “I have just instructed to further expand the existing security buffer zone. We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,” Netanyahu said in a video statement from the Northern Command.
- It came as Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released a separate video warning that President Donald Trump is leading US troops into a "swamp of death” amid reports that Trump is weighing a ground invasion.
- IRGC spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaqari blasted Trump for his "imbalance, dangerous and wrong positions and decisions" regarding the US armed forces.
- Unconfirmed reports suggest the Pentagon is preparing for potential ground operations in Iran that could last weeks. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has insisted that the US can achieve its objectives without resorting to a ground invasion.
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