Beirut: Hezbollah has officially denied reports that Israeli troops have entered Lebanese territory as part of their ground invasion, even though the Israeli Army has said it has begun the operations in Lebanon began on Monday night and that troops engaged in "limited, localised, and targeted ground raids" against Hezbollah in southern villages near the border.
In its first statement since Israel announced the start of ground operations, Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afifi said reports that Israeli forces had entered Lebanon were “false claims”. He said Hezbollah fighters are ready “to have a direct confrontation with enemy forces that dare to or try to enter Lebanon to inflict casualties among them”.
Earlier today, Hezbollah said it fired missiles at the headquarters of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and at a military intelligence unit on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, where the army’s 8200 intelligence unit is headquartered on the outskirts of the Israeli city. Atif said the firing of medium-range missiles toward central Israel “is only the beginning”.
Israel orders evacuation of Lebanese communities
Meanwhile, the Israeli military on Tuesday ordered the evacuation of nearly two dozen Lebanese border communities. The evacuation order, posted by the Israeli military's Arabic spokesman on the social media platform X, specified around two dozen communities in southern Lebanon and ordered people to evacuate north of the Awali River, some 60 km from the border.
That is farther than the Litani River, which marks the northern edge of a UN-declared zone that was intended to serve as a buffer between Israel and Hezbollah after the 2006 war. The Litani River is 30 km from the border. This came after Israel announced a new phase of war against Hezbollah along Lebanon's southern border, saying it would aim to bring home Israelis who have fled Hezbollah rockets during nearly a year of border warfare.
Israel's apparent ground raids follow its deadly detonation of booby-trapped Hezbollah pagers, two weeks of airstrikes, and then its killing on Friday of Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah, one of the heaviest blows in decades to the group. The intensive air strikes have eliminated several Hezbollah commanders but also killed about 1,000 civilians and forced one million to flee their homes, according to the Lebanese government.
Despite its biggest successes against Hezbollah in decades, Israel has indicated it is primed for a full-fledged invasion of Lebanon with the stated aim of enabling thousands of its citizens who fled Hezbollah rockets to safely return to their communities near the northern border. Israel and the United States agree on the importance of dismantling Hezbollah's "attack infrastructure" along the Israel-Lebanon border, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said.
Countries begin evacuating nationals from Lebanon
Western nations are updating contingency plans for organising evacuations from Lebanon after a sharp escalation in border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah. Cyprus, the closest European Union member state to the Middle East, is a likely hub, having processed around 60,000 people fleeing the Hezbollah-Israel war in 2006.
Countries like Australia, Canada, France and Germany have prepared evacuation plans to get its citizens out of Lebanon. Britain has called for its nationals to leave immediately and moved around 700 troops to Cyprus. Italy has reduced unnecessary diplomatic staff and beefed up security personnel at its embassy in Beirut, a source told Reuters. The US has ordered the deployment of dozens of troops to Cyprus to help prepare for scenarios, including an evacuation of Americans from Lebanon.
Russia's Kremlin has expressed concerns about Israel's incursion and strikes on Syria. "We are witnessing together that the geography of hostilities is expanding, which is further destabilizing the region and increasing tensions. These tensions are destructive to the region and the surrounding areas. We remain deeply concerned," spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
(with inputs from agencies)
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