Israel says it has launched a ground offensive in Lebanon | Conflict messages

The military describes attacks as “limited, localized and targeted” and supported by air power and artillery.

The Israeli military says it has begun “targeted ground attacks” on villages in southern Lebanon.

The incursions, backed by airstrikes and artillery, began “a few hours ago” and targeted Hezbollah “in villages near the border” with Israel, according to a military statement released early Tuesday.

It added that the raids were “limited, localized and targeted” against Hezbollah.

The invasion came shortly after it was approved by Israeli political leaders and marked a new stage in Israel’s war against Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese armed group. A day after Israel began its war on Gaza last October following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, Hezbollah began low-intensity attacks on Israeli targets.

“I really hope that we are talking about a limited ground operation,” Israel’s former justice minister Yossi Belin told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv. “We know that it is very difficult to bring the past under control, even if the government expresses a serious desire to put an end to it quickly and achieve the main goal, which is to contain the Hezbollah fighters and the Israelis to enable them to return to their villages in the north.”

Earlier Monday, U.S. officials said Israel had launched small ground strikes against Hezbollah and sealed off communities along its northern border.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke by phone on Monday, the Pentagon said.

“They agreed on the need to dismantle attack infrastructure along the border to ensure that Lebanese Hezbollah cannot carry out October 7-style attacks on Israel’s northern communities,” it said in a statement.

Austin reiterated that a diplomatic solution is necessary so that civilians on both sides of the border can safely return to their homes, the statement continued.

Airstrikes were heard across the Lebanese capital Beirut and smoke rose from the southern suburbs, Hezbollah strongholds, shortly after Israel ordered residents of three buildings to evacuate.

There were no reports of direct clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters, which were last involved in ground fighting during a month-long war in 2006.

Litani River

Tens of thousands of people on both sides have fled their homes in the past year.

Last week, Israel stepped up its attacks on Hezbollah, targeting the group’s leadership in Lebanon.

On Friday, Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs. Israel has also killed several other senior commanders, but Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets and missiles at Israeli targets.

On Monday, Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said in the group’s first public broadcast since Nasrallah’s killing that it was prepared for a possible Israeli ground attack and a long war.

Asked about reports that Israel was preparing for a “limited” ground invasion of Lebanon, US President Joe Biden called for a ceasefire.

Asked if he was happy with Israel’s plan, Biden replied: “I’m okay with them stopping it.”

However, he did not elaborate on plans to end the conflict or talk about US arms sales and military aid to its ally Israel.

More than 100,000 people have fled Lebanon for Syria since hostilities escalated this month.

Acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the government was ready to fully implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which aimed to end Hezbollah’s armed presence south of the Litani River as part of an agreement to end the war with Israel