Israel has launched a “limited” ground operation in southern Lebanon, according to its military in the latest stage of an intensifying campaign against Hezbollah in the border area.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it has begun “limited, localised, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence” against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
It also said that the air force and artillery were supporting the ground forces with “precise strikes.”
The raids were accompanied by renewed strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs, that came shortly after Israel’s military issued evacuation warnings to residents of several neighbourhoods. Israel also struck a building in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp in the country’s south for the first time, according to the Lebanese media.
The widely expected incursion is Israel’s first land operation against Hezbollah since 2006, when it fought a 34-day war with Iran-backed group that ended in a stalemate, and marks the latest widening of the conflict that has gripped the region since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
