Israel’s military said Monday it was carrying out what it described as “limited” ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as Beirut said more than one million people had displaced in two weeks of fighting.<\/p>\n
Israel’s defence minister warned that those displaced in Lebanon would not return home until northern Israel was secure, while Hezbollah said it targeted a north Israel city where first responders reported a man was wounded.<\/p>\n
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.<\/p>\n
Israel has responded with broad air raids on its northern neighbour and troop incursions into border areas.<\/p>\n
An Israeli military statement said that in recent days its troops “have begun limited and targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon”.<\/p>\n
“This activity is part of broader defensive efforts” and includes “the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists… in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel,” it said.<\/p>\n
The ground operations were preceded by air and artillery strikes, it added.<\/p>\n
The announcement echoes similar statements issued in 2024, when Israel and Hezbollah fought a major war in Lebanon, and in 2023, when the military launched a ground assault in Gaza in response to Hamas’s October 7 attacks.<\/p>\n
– Nahariya –<\/p>\n
Hezbollah said it launched rockets and attack drones at the northern Israeli city of Nahariya on Monday.<\/p>\n
Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency responders said paramedics were treating a man “in mild to moderate condition suffering from blast injuries” and six other people for smoke inhalation.<\/p>\n
Military sources quoted by Israel’s public broadcaster KAN said the impact was caused by a rocket, while MDA paramedic Yonatan Avilea said the strike hit between two buildings, sparking a blaze.<\/p>\n
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported strikes on Lebanon’s south, while Beirut said Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed 886 people, including 111 children.<\/p>\n
More than one million people have registered as displaced, with 132,000 of them staying in collective shelters.<\/p>\n
Turkey condemned the Israeli ground operation, saying it was “worsening instability in the region” and warning of “another humanitarian catastrophe” in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Israel to “not take this path — it would be an error”.<\/p>\n
Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said Hezbollah was “intending to expand their operations… and firing hundreds of rockets a day” toward Israel.<\/p>\n
“They have also sent hundreds of Radwan terrorists to the south (of Lebanon),” he added, referring to Hezbollah’s elite unit.<\/p>\n
Shoshani said the ground operations where targeting areas where “we understand Hezbollah is posing a threat towards our civilians.”<\/p>\n
“Those are new locations that our troops were not operating in yesterday,” he said, adding that “we’ll operate for as much as we need”.<\/p>\n
– No north Israel evacuations –<\/p>\n
In recent days, Hezbollah and Iran have launched coordinated rocket and missile attacks against Israel.<\/p>\n
Hezbollah has also reported targeting Israeli forces on the border with Lebanon and in several frontier towns, including “direct clashes” in Khiam, located across from north Israel’s Metula.<\/p>\n
Hezbollah has repeatedly announced targeting Israeli forces and vehicles inside Khiam, which was the first point into which Israeli forces advanced after the war began.<\/p>\n
An AFP photographer on Monday saw smoke billowing from the town after Israeli bombardment.<\/p>\n
Israel preceded its ground operations with strikes on some bridges and roads connecting south Lebanon to the rest of the country.<\/p>\n
Since the war began, the Israeli military has issued sweeping evacuation warnings for southern Lebanon, extending more than 40 kilometres (around 25 miles) from its border.<\/p>\n
Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that displaced Lebanese would not return home “south of the Litani area until the safety of residents in the north (of Israel) is guaranteed”.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military has repeatedly said it would not evacuate people from its north, unlike the previous hostilities with Hezbollah which a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end.<\/p>\n
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