ISRAEL – Israel has launched a ground invasion in southern Lebanon, in what it has described as “limited, localised and targeted” raids against Hezbollah. Lebanese civilians are being warned not to use vehicles to travel south across the Litani river, located 20 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border, and residents in around 25 villages have been told to evacuate and head north.

An Israeli senior security official told the BBC earlier that ground forces had only ventured a “very close walking distance” into Lebanon, but Hezbollah deny claims that troops are in the country. The militant group said its fighters were “ready for a direct confrontation” but there had been no direct clashes between them and Israeli forces, a claim confirmed to the BBC by an Israeli source.

Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant previously implied the army was ready for a ground operation, telling troops near the Lebanese border Israel was prepared to use forces “from the air, sea and land” to target Hezbollah. In a statement posted on X at 02:00 local time on Tuesday morning, the IDF confirmed troops had moved across the border following a build-up of tanks and other armour in northern Israel.

The Lebanese army is pulling back troops stationed on its southern border to at least 5km 3 mile north, according to Reuters news agency, which cited a Lebanese security source. Lebanon’s prime minister, Najib Mikati, said on Tuesday that his country was facing “one of the most dangerous phases” in its history. Around one million people had been displaced across Lebanon since Israeli air strikes began last month, he added. Speaking during a meeting with United Nations organisations, Mikati issued an urgent call for more aid to help support them.

On Monday, Gallant told Israeli troops at the border that Israel’s military would use all “the means at our disposal” to allow displaced people to return home in the north of the country. In a short video, he said the “elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut on Friday “is a very important step, but it is not everything He added that “everything that needs to be done will be done” and that “we will use all the forces from the air, sea and land.

The Israeli government has pledged to make it safe for tens of thousands of its citizens to return to their homes after nearly a year of cross-border fighting, which began with Hezbollah firing rockets at the start of the war in Gaza. (BBC)…[+]