Israeli forces launch selective ground offensive in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah

The Israeli Armed Forces have initiated a selective ground operation in southern Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah's positions and infrastructure. This move follows a period of intense bombings and occurs despite international calls to avoid an invasion, aiming to secure Israeli border settlements.

Intense military operations target key positions, seeking to neutralize immediate threats and ensure regional security.

The operation targets Hezbollah's positions near the border, intending to neutralize immediate threats to Israeli security.

Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah, ground offensive, border security, military operation

The Israeli Armed Forces launched a "selective and limited" ground military offensive in southern Lebanon on Monday, following an intense bombing campaign against the Shiite group Hezbollah, despite international calls, including from the United States, to avoid an invasion of the country.

"In accordance with a political decision, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began a few hours ago a selective and limited ground operation in southern Lebanon against terrorist targets and infrastructure of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in several villages near the border, which pose an immediate and real threat to Israeli settlements in the northern border," the IDF announced on their official account on the social network X.

The Israeli military stated that they are "fighting and acting" to achieve their goal of allowing residents of northern Israel to return to their homes, nearly a year after they were evacuated due to attacks by Hezbollah in support of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF has urged the public "not to spread rumors or unofficial reports" about military activities, requesting that only official announcements be followed.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah reported that it caused casualties among Israeli forces in the villages of Adaisse and Kfarkela, located in the southeast of the country near the Israeli border. The Islamist militants also launched an artillery attack on a group of soldiers in the Israeli settlement of Shtula, located on the border with southern Lebanon.

The IDF reported the activation of air-raid alarms in the Meron region in northern Israel, following the launch of numerous projectiles from Lebanon. Some of these projectiles were intercepted, while others fell in open areas. Additionally, they detected a drone over the Mediterranean Sea, dozens of kilometers off the central coast of the country. So far, no pro-Iranian militia has claimed responsibility for this attempted attack.

The ground offensive began after the Israeli security political cabinet approved the next phase of the operation. The meeting was marked by protests over leaks from U.S. officials, who had reportedly provided information about the start of the Israeli incursions, according to the newspaper 'Yedioth Ahronoth.'

It should be noted that just hours before the ground operation, the Lebanese Army had withdrawn five kilometers from the border, justifying this move as a redeployment of its forces, according to the state-run Lebanese news agency NNA.

The offensive is part of the 'Northern Arrows' operation, a military campaign launched just over a week ago against Hezbollah targets and is being carried out "simultaneously with the fighting in Gaza and other areas." The Israeli attacks, intensified since mid-September, have taken out much of Hezbollah's leadership, including its Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed last Friday in a bombing in Beirut.