JERUSALEM – Israeli forces crossed into southern Lebanon early Tuesday, marking a major escalation in attacks by Hezbollah fighters and opening a new front in the year-long war against its Iran-backed foes.
The raid follows weeks of heavy-handed attacks by Israel against Hezbollah—including an airstrike that killed its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah—and seeks to increase pressure on the group, which began firing rockets into northern Israel after the war in Gaza began. . The last time Israel and Hezbollah clashed was a month-long war in 2006.
Read more: Israeli Tanks Mass on Lebanon Border as Fears of Ground Attack Grow
The Israeli military said in a brief statement that it had launched a “limited, localized and targeted ground attack” against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
“These targets are located in cities near the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” he said.
It was not clear how long the program would take, but the army said soldiers had been training and preparing for the program for the past months. Israel said it will continue to attack the group until it is safe for the displaced Israelis to return to their homes.
Before Israel’s announcement, US officials said that Israel had launched a small ground attack inside Lebanon, and Israel declared that three small border communities were “closed military zones,” restricting access to the military only.
There were no reports of direct clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah terrorists. But throughout the night, Israeli artillery units struck targets in southern Lebanon and the sounds of airstrikes echoed throughout Beirut.
Smoke billowed from areas south of the capital, where Hezbollah is strong, shortly after Israel ordered residents of three buildings to evacuate.
Israel begins a dangerous phase of warfare
Israel is emboldened by its recent gains on the battlefield against Hezbollah and seems intent on defeating its arch-enemy. But working on the ground marks a new and potentially dangerous phase of combat. It also threatens to wreak havoc in Lebanon, where hundreds have been killed in recent Israeli strikes and hundreds of thousands displaced.
Hezbollah is a well-trained army, believed to have tens of thousands of fighters and 150,000 rockets and missiles. The last round of fighting in 2006 ended in a stalemate.
Both sides have spent the last two decades preparing for their next battle. While Hezbollah has developed formidable weapons, Israel has invested heavily in training and intelligence gathering.
The recent airstrikes that destroyed most of Hezbollah’s top leadership and the explosion of hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah show that Israel has penetrated deep into the group’s top ranks.
Read more: ‘It sounded like gunfire.’ Fear Grips Lebanon After Deadly Pager and Radio Explosives
Hezbollah vowed on Monday to continue fighting even after its latest defeat. The acting leader of this organization, Naim Kassem, in a statement broadcast on television, said that Hezbollah will be ready for an operation. He said the commanders killed in the past weeks have already been replaced.
The man expected to take over from Kassem is Hashem Safieddine, Nasrallah’s cousin who oversees Hezbollah’s political affairs.
Israel shifts attention from Gaza to Lebanon
Israeli airstrikes in recent weeks have hit what the military says have been thousands of militants in several areas of Lebanon. More than 1,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the past two weeks, almost a quarter of whom are women and children, according to the Ministry of Health.
Early Monday, an airstrike hit a building in central Beirut, killing three Palestinian terrorists, as Israel appeared to send a message that no part of Lebanon is off limits.
Israel declared war against the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip after a Hamas attack crossed the border last October 7 that killed 1,200 Israelis and captured 250 others. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and slightly more than half of the dead were women and children, according to local health officials.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on October 8 in cooperation with the Palestinian terrorist group.
Israel and Hezbollah have fired at each other almost every day since then, coming close to full-scale war on several occasions but backing away from the brink.
Read more: The Coming Israel-Hezbollah War
But as Israel’s war against Hamas has slowed in recent weeks, it has turned to northern Lebanon and stepped up Hezbollah attacks.
Israeli leaders say they want Hezbollah to implement the US resolution that ended the war in 2006, which required the group to withdraw within 30 kilometers of the Israeli border.
Hezbollah’s key obstacles
Hezbollah has faced significant challenges in recent weeks. Before Nasrallah’s assassination, a series of mysterious explosions on pagers and walkie-talkies blamed on Israel killed or injured hundreds of people, many of whom were members of Hezbollah. And Israeli airstrikes have killed most of the group’s top commanders.
But Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets and missiles at Israel and is still believed to have thousands of fighters near the Israeli border.
Read more: Hezbollah and Israel Stare Into the Abyss
For years, Israeli leaders have accused Hezbollah of hiding weapons and fighters inside homes and other residential buildings in border towns. Tens of thousands of Lebanese have fled southern Lebanon in recent weeks fearing Israeli military attacks.
Hezbollah has few air defenses, giving the Israeli air force freedom of action over Lebanese skies. But operating on the ground will be a major challenge, with Hezbollah forces entrenched and hiding in local communities and familiar with the terrain.
Still, Hezbollah’s power remains unclear. It is possible that Hezbollah is holding back to save resources for a major war. But the militant group could be in turmoil after Israeli intelligence apparently infiltrated its top ranks.
Some European countries began evacuating their officials and citizens from Lebanon on Monday. Germany sent a military plane to evacuate the diplomats’ relatives and others. Bulgaria sent a government plane to evacuate the first group of its citizens.
Israel has a long and bloody history in Lebanon. It briefly went on strike in 1978 against Palestinian militants. It struck again in 1982 in what turned out to be an 18-year mission in southern Lebanon.
A tougher move against Hezbollah could also raise the risk of a wider war across the region as Israel faces a series of adversaries backed by archenemy Iran.
Israel this week carried out airstrikes in Yemen against Houthi militias in response to a series of missiles. Netanyahu also threatened Iran, warning the government in Tehran that Israel could attack anywhere in the Middle East.
The United States and its allies have called for a ceasefire, hoping to avoid further escalation that could draw Iran in and start a wider war. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown little interest, as his country consolidates military success against a long-time enemy.
Read more: Special: Netanyahu at War
France, which has close ties with Lebanon, joined the United States in calling for a ceasefire. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, visiting Beirut on Monday, urged Israel to refrain from ground attacks.
Barrot also called on Hezbollah to stop firing on Israel, saying that the group “has a great responsibility for the current situation, if it chooses to enter this conflict.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, speaking after meeting with Barrot, said the country is committed to ending the fighting followed by the deployment of Lebanese troops to the south, in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the war in 2006 but was not fully implemented.
-Sewell reported from Beirut and Lee reported from Washington.
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