The Japan Times - Israel army says ground assault against Hezbollah underway in Lebanon

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.

Israel responded with air raids on its northern neighbour and troop incursions into border areas.

Lebanon said on Monday that Israeli attacks have killed 886 people, including 111 children, in the country since the latest war erupted. More than 830,000 people have registered as displaced.

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".

"This activity is part of broader defensive efforts to establish and strengthen a forward defensive posture, which includes the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists operating in the area, in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel," it said.

The ground operations were preceded by air and artillery strikes, it added.

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.

- 'New locations' -

Turkey condemned the Israeli ground operation, saying it was "worsening instability in the region" and warning of "another humanitarian catastrophe" in the Middle East.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, meanwhile, urged Israel to "not take this path -- it would be an error", also warning of the humanitarian consequences of a ground offensive.

In a briefing to journalists, Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said Hezbollah was "intending to expand their operations... and firing hundreds of rockets a day" toward Israel.

"They have also sent hundreds of Radwan terrorists to the south (of Lebanon)," he added, referring to Hezbollah's elite unit.

Shoshani said the ground operations were "limited in target against locations what we understand Hezbollah is posing a threat towards our civilians."

"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".

In recent days, Hezbollah has reported targeting Israeli forces on the border with Lebanon and in a number of frontier towns, including "direct clashes" in Khiam.

- No north Israel evacuations -

The town, located across the border from the Israeli town of Metula, was the first point into which Israeli forces advanced after the start of the war.

Hezbollah has repeatedly announced targeting Israeli forces and vehicles at positions inside Khiam.

Israel preceded its ground operations with strikes on a number of bridges and roads that connect southern Lebanon to the rest of the country.

Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli military has issued evacuation warnings for wide areas in southern Lebanon, extending more than 40 kilometres (around 25 miles) from its border.

Defence Minister Israel Katz warned on Monday that those displaced in Lebanon would not be allowed to return home "south of the Litani area until the safety of residents in the north (of Israel) is guaranteed".

The Israeli military has repeatedly said it would not evacuate people from the north, as it had done in the previous 2024 war.

During that conflict, Israel evacuated tens of thousands of residents from northern communities until a ceasefire was struck in November 2024.

Despite that ceasefire, Israel had conducted near-daily air strikes on Hezbollah targets inside Lebanon.

In recent days, the militant group and Iran have launched coordinated rocket and missile attacks against Israel.

Israel, meanwhile, said no direct talks were planned with Lebanon to end the fighting, which has been raging for two weeks.

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K.Okada--JT