Israel launches 'limited' ground operation against Hezbollah

After days of speculation, Israel’s military confirmed on Tuesday that it has begun “limited, localized and targeted raids against Hezbollah terror targets in the border area of southern Lebanon”.

The announcement said the raids were based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah "terrorist targets and infrastructure" in southern Lebanon as the conflict between the two sides reaches the closest it has come to war since 2006.

“These targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” the statement said, carried out by the elite 98th division, deployed two weeks ago from Gaza.

Since October 7 when Iran-backed Hamas invaded Israel, sparking the Gaza war, Iran’s biggest proxy, Hezbollah, has engaged in almost daily bombardments of Israel’s north in allegiance with Hamas.

It has seen 63,000 Israelis displaced and over 100,000 Lebanese. Since operations stepped up two weeks ago when Israel targeted what is believed to be 1,500 Hezbollah operatives in pager and walkie-talkie explosions, hundreds of thousands more Lebanese have fled southern Lebanon and Hezbollah-controlled areas of Beirut.

Air strikes have blitzed Hezbollah, including assassinating its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, last week. Its top commanders have also been eliminated.

The Israeli military also released footage of the preparations for the ground operation named Northern Arrows.

Meanwhile, as the successor to Nasrallah remains to be announced, then group’s deputy, Naim Qassem, warned that the group would continue its campaign in the first televised address following Nasrallah’s killing.

“Hezbollah will go on with its goals and its battle,” he said, saying that in spite of the annihilation of the top ranks of the group’s commanders, they would be easily replaced.

“Our system of command and control as well as the mujahideen [fighters] will continue to follow up and implement the alternative plans accurately. All are ready in the battlefield.”

Addressing the pager operation which left the group humiliated on the world stage after Israel infiltrated the group's communications network, he said: “We have sacrificed a lot since the pager operations, the martyrdom of the commanders and the martyrdom of the leader (Nasrallah).

"If this happens anywhere else with any organization across the world, it will collapse, but we did not. We are going on despite the pains and the sacrifices. We are going on because we have the hope and we trust Allah almighty to be victorious. We are the people of jihad.”

US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, gave the green light to his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, for the limited incursion.

According to a Pentagon readout of the call between the two officials, they “agreed on the necessity of dismantling attack infrastructure along the border to ensure that Lebanese [Hezbollah] cannot conduct October 7-style attacks on Israel’s northern communities”.

While the US and UK were helping citizens to leave Beirut amid the escalation, the situation in Israel remained unchanged. A US official, speaking off the record to Iran International, said: “Israel has a great ability to deter terrorist threats with the likes of the Iron Dome so the situation here is much more stable.”

Andrew Fox, an ex-officer in the British forces, said on X that the Israeli incursion was not a simple operation. “It’s a huge area to try and clear - and impossible to hold, and nothing to stop Hezbollah reinfiltrating after the IDF withdraw,” he said.

“I’ll be amazed if this IDF ground op in Lebanon is more than a relatively limited incursion to clear known sites. Similar to creating a buffer zone. I cannot see any sense in a full scale invasion.”

The operation is focusing on the border area which was meant to be protected by UNIFIL’s peacekeepers in the 2006 UN Resolution 1701. On a clearly marked line, the border between the two countries was meant to be cleared of terror groups and the groups forced to disarm. Neither has happened.

In a statement, UNIFIL said: "Yesterday, the IDF notified UNIFIL of their intention to undertake limited ground incursions into Lebanon. Despite this dangerous development, peacekeepers remain in position.

"Any crossing into Lebanon is in violation of Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a violation of resolution 1701. We urge all actors to step back from such escalatory acts, which will only lead to more violence and more bloodshed. We strongly urge the parties to recommit to Security Council resolutions and 1701 (2006) as the only viable solution to bring back stability in this region."

Reuters reported that "the Lebanese forces withdrew five kilometers north of the border”.

A senior political figure opposed to Hezbollah in Lebanon, speaking to Iran International of anonymity, said: "Hezbollah acted alone as a non-state actor and cannot expect the state to defend them when a retaliation takes place. As the Lebanese Army was unable to disarm Hezbollah, it cannot be dragged into a war to defend it either."

"Lebanese sovereign territory is under attack, and Hezbollah is part of a regional armed networked controlled by the Iranian regime. Lebanon alone cannot defend itself against internal and external actors and strengthen its sovereign institutions without the support of the international community represented in the United Nations and Arab League."

On Tuesday morning, sirens were sounded in central Israel as Hezbollah targeted deeper into the country with multiple ballistic missiles. The Israeli military said the projectiles were intercepted but there have been reports at the time of publication of at least one man suffering shrapnel injuries, according to Magen David Adom, Israel's rescue service.

Israeli military announced there had been a direct hit on Israel's highway 6 near Kfar Qasim.

Hezbollah also claimed it fired Fadi-4 missiles toward the intelligence agency Mossad's headquarters in Glilot, north of Tel Aviv, while Iran's Tasnim news agency said "the initial plan of the Zionists to advance by land into Lebanese territory has failed so far".

The British foreign secretary, David Lammy, reiterated calls for a diplomatic solution to the crisis which shows no signs of easing. "Speaking to [US] Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken this evening, we were clear on the need for a diplomatic solution in the Middle East."

"The UK is calling for an immediate ceasefire and the implementation of a political plan that allows displaced Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return to their homes,” he said.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, announced that a top Hamas commander, Fatah Sharif, killed by Israel in south Lebanon Monday, was one of its employees but had been suspended since allegations of his ties to the militant group emerged in March.

Israel has alleged that UNRWA has been infiltrated by the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group.