What to know if Israel begins a ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon

JERUSALEM — Israeli ground forces entered southern Lebanon early Tuesday, marking a significant escalation of an offensive against Hezbollah militants and opening a new front in a yearlong war against Iran-backed opponents.

The raid follows weeks of heavy blows 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 after the war broke out in Gaza. firing on northern Israel. . The last time Israel and Hezbollah engaged in a ground battle was a month-long war in 2006.

Read more: Israeli tanks mass at the border with Lebanon as fears of a ground invasion grow

The Israeli army said in a brief statement that it had begun “limited, localized and targeted ground attacks” on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

“These targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” the report said.

There was no word on how long the operation would last, but the military said soldiers had been training and preparing for the mission in recent months. Israel has said it will continue to attack the group until it is safe for displaced Israelis from border communities to return to their homes.

Before the Israeli announcement, US officials said Israel had launched small ground attacks in Lebanon, and that Israel had declared three small border communities a “closed military zone,” restricting access only to army personnel.

There were no reports of direct clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants. But throughout the evening, Israeli artillery units pounded targets in southern Lebanon and the sounds of airstrikes could be heard throughout Beirut.

Smoke rose from the capital’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence, shortly after Israel ordered residents of three buildings to evacuate.

Israel launches a risky phase of the battle

Israel is buoyed by recent battlefield victories against Hezbollah and appears determined to deliver a knockout blow to its arch-enemy. But a ground operation marks a new and potentially risky phase of the battle. It also threatens to unleash further destruction in Lebanon, where hundreds of people have been killed in recent Israeli attacks and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.

Hezbollah is a well-trained militia, believed to have tens of thousands of fighters and an arsenal of 150,000 missiles and rockets. The last round of fighting in 2006 ended in a stalemate.

Both sides have been preparing for their next confrontation for the past twenty years. While Hezbollah has built up a formidable arsenal, Israel has invested large sums in training and intelligence gathering.

Recent airstrikes that wiped out most of Hezbollah’s top leadership and the explosions of hundreds of Hezbollah beepers and walkie-talkies indicate that Israel has infiltrated deeply into the group’s upper echelons.

Read more: “It sounded like gunfire.” Fear grips Lebanon after deadly pager and radio blasts

Hezbollah vowed Monday to keep fighting even after recent losses. The group’s acting leader, Naim Kassem, said in a televised statement that Hezbollah would be ready for a ground operation. He said the commanders killed in recent weeks have already been replaced.

The man widely expected to take over Kassem’s top position is Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah who oversees Hezbollah’s political affairs.

Israel shifts attention from Gaza to Lebanon

Israeli attacks in recent weeks have hit thousands of militant targets in large parts of Lebanon, according to the army. According to the Ministry of Health, more than a thousand people have been killed in Lebanon in the past two weeks, almost a quarter of them women and children.

Early Monday, an airstrike hit a residential building in central Beirut, killing three Palestinian militants, as Israel appeared to send a message that no part of Lebanon is off-limits.

Israel declared war on the militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ cross-border attack on October 7 last year, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. According to local health officials, more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and just over half of the dead were women and children.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on October 8, in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost every day since, coming close to full-fledged war several times but taking a step back from the brink.

Read more: The coming war between Israel and Hezbollah

But as Israel’s war against Hamas has been scaled back in recent weeks, the country has shifted its focus north to Lebanon and stepped up attacks on Hezbollah.

Israeli leaders say they want Hezbollah to implement the U.S. resolution that ended the 2006 war, which required the group to withdraw some 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the Israeli border.

Major setbacks for Hezbollah

Hezbollah has suffered significant setbacks in recent weeks. Before Nasrallah’s assassination, a series of mysterious pager and walkie-talkie explosions blamed on Israel killed or injured hundreds of people, including many Hezbollah members. And Israeli airstrikes have killed most of the group’s senior commanders.

But Hezbollah has continued to launch rockets into Israel and thousands of fighters are still believed to be near the Israeli border.

Read more: Hezbollah and Israel are staring into the abyss

Israeli leaders have accused Hezbollah for years of hiding weapons and fighters in homes and other civilian structures in border villages. Tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians have fled southern Lebanon in recent weeks for fear of an Israeli military attack.

Hezbollah has little air defense, giving the Israeli air force freedom to operate over Lebanon’s airspace. But a ground operation will be much more challenging, because Hezbollah forces are embedded and hidden in local communities and are familiar with the local terrain.

Yet Hezbollah’s capabilities remain unclear. It is possible that Hezbollah is holding back to save resources for a larger fight. But the militant group could also be in disarray now that Israeli intelligence services have apparently reached the highest levels.

Some European countries began withdrawing their diplomats and citizens from Lebanon on Monday. Germany sent a military plane to evacuate relatives of diplomats and others. Bulgaria sent a government plane to extract the first group of civilians.

Israel has a long and bloody history in Lebanon. It was briefly invaded in 1978 during an attack on Palestinian militants. The country was invaded again in 1982, in an operation that culminated in an eighteen-year occupation of southern Lebanon.

The intensified action against Hezbollah could also raise the risk of a broader war across the region as Israel confronts a range of enemies backed by arch-enemy Iran.

Israel carried out an airstrike in Yemen this week against the Houthi militia in response to a series of rocket attacks. Netanyahu has also threatened Iran and warned Tehran’s government that Israel could strike anywhere in the Middle East.

The United States and its allies have called for a ceasefire, hoping to prevent further escalation that could draw in Iran and spark a broader war. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown little interest as his country continues to record military successes against an old enemy.

Read more: Exclusive: Netanyahu at war

France, which has close ties with Lebanon, has joined the United States in calling for a ceasefire. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Monday called on Israel to refrain from a ground offensive during a visit to Beirut.

Barrot also called on Hezbollah to stop shooting at Israel, saying the group “bears a heavy responsibility in the current situation, given its choice to involve itself in the conflict.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said after a meeting with Barrot that the country was committed to an immediate ceasefire, followed by the deployment of Lebanese troops in the south, in accordance with a UN Security Council resolution that ended to the 2006 war, but which was never ended. fully implemented.

—Sewell reported from Beirut and Lee reported from Washington.