The Israeli military says it has begun “targeted ground raids” on villages in southern Lebanon.
The incursions backed by air strikes and artillery began “a few hours ago”, targeting Hezbollah “in villages close to the border” with Israel, according to a statement released early on Tuesday by the military.
It added that the raids were “limited, localised and targeted” against Hezbollah.
The incursion came shortly after it was approved by Israeli political leaders and marked a new stage in Israel’s war against Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese armed group. Hezbollah began low-intensity strikes on Israeli targets a day after Israel launched its war on Gaza last October following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.
“I really hope we are talking about a limited ground operation,” Israel’s former justice minister Yossi Belin told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv. “We know it’s very difficult to control from the past even if the government is sincere in its wish to end it quickly and to achieve the main aim which is to curtail Hezbollah combatants and allow Israelis to go back to their villages in the north.”
Earlier on Monday, US officials said Israel had launched small ground raids against Hezbollah and sealed off communities along its northern border on Monday as Israeli artillery pounded southern Lebanon.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Israel informed the US about the raids, which he said were described as “limited operations focused on Hezbollah infrastructure near the border.”
The sounds of airstrikes were heard throughout the Lebanese capital Beirut and smoke rose from its southern suburbs, strongholds for Hezbollah, shortly after Israel ordered residents of three buildings to evacuate.
There were no reports of direct clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah members, who were last involved in ground combat during a month-long war in 2006.
Source: Al Jazeera