The Israeli military said on Tuesday that troops had launched “ground raids” on villages in southern Lebanon after militant group Hezbollah said it had targeted “enemy soldiers” on the countries’ border.
Israel also launched at least six strikes on south Beirut after Israeli forces ordered residents in the Hezbollah stronghold to evacuate, a Lebanese security official said.
Despite international calls for de-escalation, Israel had earlier vowed to keep fighting Hezbollah and sealed a section of the border after the killing of the Iran-backed group’s leader.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant warned that the fight is far from over after a massive attack on Beirut on Friday killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, dealing a seismic blow to the group.
The army said troops, supported by airstrikes and artillery, launched ground attacks “a few hours ago” targeting the terrorist group Hezbollah “in villages close to the border.”
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that Israel informed Washington, its main arms supplier, about the intrusion.
US President Joe Biden indicated earlier on Monday that he opposed the Israeli ground operation.
“We must have a ceasefire now,” he said.
“Hezbollah fighters are ready if Israel decides to enter by land,” Naim Qassim, the group’s deputy leader, said in his first televised address since Nasrallah’s death.
In a statement, Hezbollah said it “targeted” Israeli troops who were “agitating” in gardens near the border, with a source close to the group saying the troops were “right on the border”.
There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah after the Israeli military announced the ground attack, but the group’s Al-Manar television reported the Israeli statement announcing the raid on its Telegram channel.
A military official told AFP that the Lebanese National Army, dwarfed by Hezbollah’s military power, was “moving” troops away from the border.
World leaders have urged de-escalation, with Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, saying: “We do not want any kind of ground invasion.”
– Hezbollah ‘targeted’ soldiers –
Earlier this month, Israel launched a series of deadly airstrikes aimed at Hezbollah across Lebanon, the latest of which on Monday killed 95 people, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
On Monday evening the Israeli military called on people in three districts of southern Beirut to evacuate.
“You are located near interests and facilities belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah group,” Israeli military spokesman Avichai Adrai said.
“For your safety and the safety of your family members, you should immediately evacuate and stay away from buildings.”
AFP correspondents in the capital heard explosions and saw a flash at ground level.
As Israel announced its ground strikes, Syria’s official news agency SANA said the country’s air defense systems were intercepting “hostile targets” in the Damascus area.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has carried out hundreds of strikes on Syria in recent years.
– ‘Everyone is afraid’ –
He said the killing of Nasrallah was “an important step, but it is not the final one”.
Hezbollah launched low-intensity attacks on Israeli troops a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, triggering Israel’s devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Border clashes escalated rapidly this month.
On Monday, the Israeli army declared an area of the border strip a “closed military zone.”
Israel’s attacks on Lebanon over the past week have killed hundreds of people and forced more than a million from their homes, according to Lebanese officials.
Hezbollah and other groups launched rockets, drones, and some missiles at Israel in the same period, causing some injuries but no deaths.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran, which supports Hamas, Hezbollah and other armed groups, of “pushing our region deeper into war.”
“There is no place in the Middle East that Israel cannot reach,” Netanyahu warned.
Iran has said Nasrallah’s killing would bring Israel’s “destruction”, although the Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Tehran would not deploy any fighter planes to counter Israel.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for a ceasefire based on a recent US-French resolution urging “an end to Israeli aggression against Lebanon”.
Earlier on Monday, an Israeli strike hit a building in central Beirut, which an armed Palestinian group said had killed three of its members.
The first strike in the city center in many years caused panic.
“This is supposed to be a safe zone – not a war zone,” said Cahier Bannout, a 42-year-old resident of central Beirut.
“Everyone is afraid.”
Lebanon’s Health Minister Firas Abiad said more than 1,000 people had died since September 17.
Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency, said: “More than 200,000 people have been displaced inside Lebanon”, while more than 100,000 have fled to neighboring Syria.
– ‘A little time’ –
France said on Monday evening it was deploying a naval ship to Lebanon as a “precaution” in case it decides to evacuate French citizens.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, the first high-level diplomat to visit Beirut since Israeli attacks intensified, said there is “still hope” for a ceasefire, “but time is very short”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said diplomacy is the best way forward for the region.
“Washington will continue to work to advance a diplomatic solution to the Israel-Lebanon border and a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release agreement,” he said.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt tried for months to broker such a deal, with Netanyahu’s domestic critics accusing them of obstruction.
In Gaza, AFP journalists said the number of Israeli airstrikes had dropped significantly in recent days.
A UN Satellite Center assessment released on Monday said two-thirds of all structures in the Gaza Strip have been damaged in the nearly year-long war.
Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel killed 1,205 people, mostly civilians, including hostages who died in captivity, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israeli retaliatory military strikes have killed at least 41,615 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
