Israel begins ground raids against Hezbollah targets in border area of southern Lebanon

Israel’s military said on Tuesday (Oct 1) that it had started “limited, localised and targeted raids” against Hezbollah targets in the border area of Southern Lebanon.
The targets are located in villages close to the border and “pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel”, said the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in a statement.
“Israeli airforce and IDF artillery are supporting ground forces with precise strikes on military targets in the area,” the military added.
The IDF is continuing to operate to achieve the goals of the war and is doing everything necessary to defend the citizens of Israel and return the citizens of northern Israel to their homes, read the statement.
The operation will continue according to situational assessment and in parallel to combat in Gaza and in other areas, said the military.
Hezbollah fighters were “ready if Israel decides to enter by land”, the group’s deputy leader Naim Qassem earlier said in a first televised address since the death of its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah following the Israeli army’s announcement of the ground raids, but the group’s al-Manar television reported the Israeli statement announcing the raids on its Telegram channel.
Lebanon’s national army, dwarfed by Hezbollah’s military power, was “repositioning” troops farther from the border, a military official told AFP.
The United States earlier said Israeli forces have launched limited ground incursions in Lebanon.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told journalists that Israeli officials “have informed us that they are currently conducting … limited operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure near the border”.
On Monday evening, people in three districts of southern Beirut received calls from the Israeli military to evacuate.
“You are located near interests and facilities belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah group,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said.
“For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate the buildings immediately and stay away from them.”
A Lebanese security official said Israel conducted at least six strikes on south Beirut, after residents received the calls.
Local residents in the Lebanese border town of Aita al-Shaab reported heavy shelling and the sound of helicopters and drones overhead.
Despite international calls for de-escalation, Israel earlier vowed to keep fighting Hezbollah and sealed part of the border after killing the Iran-backed group’s leader.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned the battle was not over even after the massive strike on Beirut that killed Nasrallah on Friday, dealing the group a seismic blow.
“We will use all the means that may be required … from the air, from the sea, and on land” to restore calm, he said.
The killing of Nasrallah “is an important step, but it is not the final one”, said the defence minister. 
Gallant had told local council heads in northern Israel on Monday that the next phase of the war along Lebanon’s southern border would support the aim of bringing home Israelis who have fled Hezbollah rockets during nearly a year of border warfare.
Hezbollah began low-intensity strikes on Israeli troops a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct 7 which triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
The border clashes rapidly escalated this month, leaving people across the region fearful of even more violence to come.
Israel said earlier this month that it was shifting its focus from Gaza to securing its northern border.
On Monday the army declared an area of the border strip a “closed military zone”.
Israel’s strikes on Lebanon have killed hundreds of people over the past week and forced up to a million to flee their homes, according to Lebanese officials.
Hezbollah and other groups launched rockets, drones and some missiles at Israel over the same period, causing some injuries but no deaths.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused arch-foe Iran, which backs Hamas, Hezbollah and other armed groups, of plunging “our region deeper … into war”.
“There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach,” Netanyahu warned.
Iran has said Nasrallah’s killing would bring about Israel’s “destruction”, though the foreign ministry said Monday that Tehran would not deploy any fighters to confront Israel.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for a ceasefire based on a recent US-French proposal, urging “an end to the Israeli aggression against Lebanon”.
Most of Israel’s strikes have targeted Hezbollah strongholds in eastern and southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, the group’s main bastion.
Hamas said its leader in Lebanon, Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine, was killed along with his wife and two children in a strike on Al-Bass refugee camp in south Lebanon. The Israeli military confirmed it had killed Sharif.
On Monday, an Israeli strike hit a building in central Beirut, with an armed Palestinian group saying it had killed three of its members.
The strike, the first in the city centre in years, sparked panic.
Central Beirut resident Kahier Bannout, 42, said it was “supposed to be a safe area – not a war zone”.