‘Intense fighting’ erupts as Israel conducts 'limited' ground operation in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military said intense fighting erupted with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on Tuesday after its paratroops and commandos launched a “limited” ground incursion in southern Lebanon. The cross-border operation opened a new front in Israel's year-long war against its Iranian-backed adversaries.

Summary:

• The Israeli military early Tuesday said its troops have started "ground raids" in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah targets.
• US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin offered support to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for "dismantling attack infrastructure" along Lebanon's border with Israel.  
• Israeli Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu issued a warning to Iran Monday, just days after an air strike south of Beirut killed the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah group, which is backed by Tehran.
• Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem on Monday said the group would appoint a new leader and continue the fight against Israel in his first speech since Hassan Nasrallah's killing.

Yesterday's key developments:

Israel told the US it had begun conducting limited ground operations inside Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, the US State Department said on Monday evening. Earlier Israel declared three communities along its northern border with Lebanon to be a “closed military zone”, restricting access to military forces only. 

Lebanon's army is "repositioning and regrouping forces" away from the border with Israel in response to an apparently imminent Israeli ground invasion, a Lebanese military official told AFP.

United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon have been unable to conduct patrols because of the intensity of Israeli strikes and Hezbollah's rockets targeting Israel, a UN spokesman said.

Source: France24