Israeli army reports 'heavy fighting' in southern Lebanon

Photo: Agence France-Presse A Lebanese man looks at a building destroyed by an Israeli strike in the Ruwais neighborhood in southern Beirut.

Layal Abou Rahal – Agence France-Presse and Benoît Finck – Agence France-Presse respectively in Beirut and Jerusalem

Published at 6:53

• Middle East

Fighting erupted Tuesday in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli army launched a ground offensive against Hezbollah, after a week of intense bombardments against the Iran-backed Islamist movement that left hundreds dead.

After the devastating blow to the Shiite armed group with the death of its leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed Friday in an Israeli strike near Beirut, Israeli leaders had warned that the war against Hezbollah was not over.

The movement, which for the past year has been increasing its rocket fire toward northern Israel in support of the Palestinian Hamas, which is at war with the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, assured on Monday that it was “ready” to face a ground offensive in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army announced that it had launched “limited, localized and targeted” ground operations on Monday evening, supported by the air force and artillery, against “terrorist targets and infrastructure” of Hezbollah.

“These targets are located in villages near the border and constitute an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” it assured.

Airstrikes also targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, the surroundings of Damascus in Syria, and the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been conducting an offensive since October 7, 2023, in retaliation for the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

Photo: Mahmoud Zayyat Agence France-Presse Residents and rescue workers walk through the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp, near the port of Sidon, Lebanon.

Avoid the south

The Israeli army reported on Tuesday “heavy fighting” in southern Lebanon and ordered the Lebanese not to travel to the south of the country “in vehicles” for their “own safety”.

Hezbollah, for its part, said on Tuesday that it had targeted Israeli soldiers with artillery fire and rockets in Metula and Avivim, in northern Israel, after the start of this operation.

The army said on Tuesday that soldiers from the 98th Division, previously engaged in the Gaza Strip, were engaged in the operations in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army also announced that it had carried out on Monday “precision strikes on several weapons manufacturing sites and other Hezbollah infrastructure” in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

According to a Lebanese security official, Israel launched at least six strikes on southern Beirut during the night, after the Israeli army ordered residents to to evacuate the premises.

An official at a Palestinian camp in the southern Lebanese city of Saida told AFP that an Israeli strike there targeted Mounir Maqdah, whom Israel accuses of leading the Lebanese branch of the Palestinian Fatah movement’s armed wing. He did not say whether Mounir Maqdah was hit.

According to Syrian state media, Israeli strikes also targeted the Damascus region overnight, killing three civilians.

Photo: Baz Ratner Associated Press Israeli soldiers pray at army installations in northern Israel.

Emergency aid

After a year of exchanges of fire on the border, Israel has intensified its military operations on the northern front since mid-September, in order to weaken Hezbollah and allow the return of tens of thousands of inhabitants of the border regions with Lebanon, displaced by the incessant rocket fire.

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In Lebanon, more than a thousand people have been killed, according to the Ministry of Health, since the explosions of Hezbollah transmission devices on September 16 and 17, attributed to Israel, and the start of the massive bombings targeting Hezbollah strongholds from September 23.

Lebanon is facing “one of the most dangerous phases in its history,” its Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, said on Tuesday. He called on the United Nations to provide emergency aid for the displaced, whose number has reached one million after the bombings of the last few days.

The UN has launched an appeal for more than $400 million to help the displaced.

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“Dismantling Hezbollah’s Infrastructure”

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday he agreed with Israel on the “need to dismantle the attack infrastructure” of Hezbollah to ensure that it “cannot carry out attacks of the type that occurred on October 7 against communities in northern Israel.”

However, he called for a “diplomatic resolution” to ensure the safety of civilians “on both sides of the border.”

Calls for de-escalation grew louder Monday amid concerns that the war could escalate, as Israel vowed to fight its “enemies” and “eliminate” them wherever they are.

There is “no place in the Middle East that Israel cannot reach,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Netanyahu.

However, the American website Axios indicated that, according to Israeli officials speaking on condition of anonymity, the ground operation was “not aimed at occupying southern Lebanon,” from which Israel withdrew in 2000 after 22 years of occupation.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed his opposition to any Israeli “ground invasion” of Lebanon, while President Joe Biden suggested on Monday that he was opposed to ground operations, calling for a ceasefire.

Iran has said it would not “deploy” fighters to Lebanon and Gaza to confront Israel. But the Defense Secretary again warned Tehran overnight against a possible “direct military attack targeting Israel.”

The Israeli offensive continues in the Gaza Strip, even if the strikes have decreased in intensity in recent days.

On Tuesday, bombings killed 12 people in the Nusseirat refugee camp in central Palestinian territory. Seven others died in strikes on a school housing displaced people near Gaza City in the north.

Several countries organize the evacuation of their nationals

Several countries have organized the evacuations of their nationals residing in Lebanon, where the Israeli army began a ground operation against Hezbollah in the south of the country on Monday.

Canada

Canada announced Monday that it had reserved 800 seats on commercial flights to help its nationals leave Lebanon. There are about 45,000 Canadians in Lebanon, with the next flight scheduled for Tuesday. The Canadian military has set up emergency resources in Cyprus if commercial flights are disrupted.

France

A French Navy ship set sail Monday from the southeast of France to preposition itself off the coast of Lebanon as a “precaution,” in case French nationals need to be evacuated, the Army General Staff announced. The French amphibious helicopter carrier (PHA), which will take “5 to 6 days” to reach the area in the eastern Mediterranean from the port of Toulon. Some 23,000 French or Franco-Lebanese are based in Lebanon.

Germany

Berlin sent a military plane to Beirut on Monday to evacuate employees of the German embassy in Lebanon and their families. Employees of other German organisations and their families, as well as nationals threatened for medical reasons, are also to be repatriated, the government said. Some 1,800 German citizens are registered with the crisis cell of the diplomatic representation in Lebanon.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom announced on Monday evening that it had chartered a commercial flight for its nationals wishing to evacuate Lebanon. The flight will depart from Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport on Wednesday. Last week, London announced the deployment of 700 troops to Cyprus to prepare for a possible evacuation of its citizens from Lebanon.

Bulgaria

A total of 89 Bulgarians, mostly families with children, were evacuated from Lebanon and arrived in Sofia late Monday. A government plane is expected to make a second flight Tuesday. About 400 Bulgarians live in Lebanon and so far 160 of them have said they want to be evacuated, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Elena Shekerletova.

Portugal

Portugal already repatriated Saturday evening — by military flight, via Cyprus — 28 nationals and their families, a total of 44 people.

Agence France-Presse