The Israeli military announced it had launched a “limited, localized and targeted” ground operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, continuing artillery shelling of areas near the border and airstrikes on the capital Beirut.
“The Israel Defense Forces [Israel Defense Forces] “Based on precise intelligence, we launched limited, localized and targeted ground raids against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement in X early Tuesday morning.
“These targets are located in villages near the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” the report added, adding, “Operation Northern Arrows , will continue in parallel with the fighting in the Gaza Strip and in the Gaza Strip,'' he added. Even in other arenas. ”
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli military attack in Beirut on Friday, dealing a major blow to the militant group and raising concerns that Israel is preparing a ground offensive in Lebanon. There is a possibility that conflict could spread throughout the Middle East. Israel continued its attack on Beirut and also launched attacks on Yemen and Syria.
The IDF's statement on Tuesday followed reports in Israeli media that the country's Cabinet approved the next phase of the operation in Lebanon after a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hours earlier, U.S. and other officials also said the Israeli military appeared to have launched what intelligence sources called a “limited ground operation” inside southern Lebanon.
“This is what they have told us they are currently conducting, a limited operation targeting Hezbollah infrastructure near the border,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. .
Early Tuesday, the Lebanese Ministry of Health announced that at least 95 people were killed and 172 injured in Israeli military attacks on southern Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut in the past 24 hours.
“The resistance is ready for a ground war,” Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem said Monday in his first public speech since Nasrallah's death.
The heavy shelling of Lebanon was carried out along the northern border of Kiryat Shmona, an area where Israeli armored and infantry troops advanced into Lebanon during the 2006 war. Lebanese state news agency said airstrikes continued on at least 10 locations in Beirut and the south of the country.
The Israeli military subsequently declared the areas of Metura, Misgab Am, and Kfar Giladi in northern Israel a closed military zone.
US President Joe Biden earlier said he was aware of Israel's plans to launch a military operation into Lebanon and called for opposition to such a move. “I'm more aware than you might think, and I wouldn't mind them stopping it,” he told reporters at the White House. “There should be a ceasefire now.”
The towns of Marjayoun, Wazani and Kiam, located in a series of tangled valleys overlooked by steep slopes, were under shelling on Monday night.
One Marjayoun resident said he received a call from local officials ordering residents to evacuate, but the shelling began before people could leave the town. “They called the mukhtar in Marjayun and said we need to evacuate. But we can't move and the roads are filled with shelling and airstrikes,” the resident said.
An hour later, the road leading from Marjayoun was hit by Israeli airstrikes, making it impassable, Lebanese state news agency reported.
The area, dotted with villages and a wooded area hiding bunkers and combat tunnels, has long been a base for Hezbollah fighters and saw heavy fighting during the last war between Israel and Hezbollah 18 years ago. Ta.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it had targeted a group of Israeli soldiers in an “orchard” near the Lebanese border towns of Odaise and Kafr Qira, and that “casualties have been confirmed.” Kafr Qira is one of the towns adjacent to the area that Israel declared a closed military zone on Monday.
