Zürcher Nachrichten - Israel army says begun 'limited targeted ground operations' against Hezbollah in south Lebanon

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when the Tehran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel responded with air raids on its northern neighbour and troop incursions into border areas.

"In recent days, IDF troops from the 91st division have begun limited and targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, aimed at enhancing the forward defence area," the military said in a statement.

"This activity is part of broader defensive efforts to establish and strengthen a forward defensive posture, which includes the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists operating in the area, in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel," it said.

"Prior to the troops' entry into the area, the IDF conducted strikes using both artillery and the Israeli Air Force," it added.

The announcement echoes similar statements issued in 2024, when Israel and Hezbollah fought a major war in Lebanon, and in 2023, when the military launched a ground assault in Gaza in response to Hamas's October 7 attacks.

In a separate briefing to journalists, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said Hezbollah had recently expanded its activities in southern Lebanon.

"We have identified Hezbollah is intending to expand their operations... and firing hundreds of rockets a day" toward Israel, he said.

"They have also sent hundreds of Radwan terrorists to the south (of Lebanon)," he said, referring to an elite unit within Hezbollah.

- 'New locations' -

Shoshani said the ground operations were "limited in target against locations what we understand Hezbollah is posing a threat towards our civilians," he added.

"Those are new locations that our troops were not operating in yesterday," he said.

"We are also conducting targeted ground operations against specific locations where Hezbollah is operating from," Shoshani said, adding that "we'll operate for as much as we need".

In recent days, Hezbollah has reported targeting gathering points of Israeli forces on the border with Lebanon, as well as movements inside a number of border towns, including "direct clashes" in Khiam.

The town, located across the border from the Israeli town of Metula, was the first point into which Israeli forces advanced after the start of the war.

Since Saturday, Hezbollah has repeatedly announced targeting Israeli forces and vehicles at several positions inside Khiam.

Israel preceded its ground operations with strikes on a number of bridges and roads that connect southern Lebanon to the rest of the country.

Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli military has issued evacuation warnings for wide areas in southern Lebanon, extending more than 40 kilometres from its border.

- No evacuations from north Israel -

Katz warned on Monday that hundreds of thousands of Lebanese displaced by fighting with Hezbollah would not be allowed to return home "south of the Litani area until the safety of residents in the north (of Israel) is guaranteed".

The Israeli military has repeatedly said it would not evacuate Israelis from northern parts of the country, as it had done in the previous 2024 war.

During that conflict, Israel evacuated tens of thousands of residents from northern communities until a ceasefire was struck in November 2024.

Despite that ceasefire, Israel had conducted near-daily air strikes on Hezbollah targets inside Lebanon.

In recent days, the militant group and Iran have launched coordinated rocket and missile attacks against Israel.

Lebanese authorities said on Sunday the death toll from Israeli attacks had reached 850 during the current war, while more than 830,000 people had registered as displaced.

Israel, meanwhile, said no direct talks were planned with Lebanon to end the fighting, which has been raging for two weeks.

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N.Fischer--NZN