The Israeli military is warning several Lebanese communities near the border to evacuate

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military on Tuesday warned people to evacuate nearly two dozen Lebanese border communities, hours after it launched what it said was a limited ground attack against the militant Hezbollah group. Hezbollah denied the entry of Israeli troops but said it was ready to fight them.

The military advised people to evacuate north of the Awali River, about 60 kilometers (36 miles) from the border and much further than the Litani River, which marks the river's northern edge a UN declared zone which was intended to serve as a buffer between Israel and Hezbollah after their war in 2006.

“To save yourself, you must immediately head north of the Awali River and leave your homes immediately,” said the statement released on Platform X by the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesman, Avichay Adraee.

Israel's warning suggests it is pushing deeper into Lebanon

The border region has largely emptied over the past year due to a firefight between the two sides. But the scope of the evacuation warning raises questions about the extent to which Israel plans to send its troops to Lebanon as it presses ahead with a rapidly escalating campaign against Hezbollah.

Israeli troops have so far been within walking distance of the border and have focused on villages hundreds of meters (yards) from Israel, an Israeli military official said earlier on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations. The official said there had been no clashes with Hezbollah fighters so far.

Hezbollah denied that Israeli troops had entered Lebanon but said its fighters were ready if they did.

In his first statement since Israel announced the start of ground operations, Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif rejected what he said were “false claims” about an Israeli invasion. He said Hezbollah was ready for “a direct confrontation with hostile forces that dare or attempt to enter Lebanon.”

Israel attacks more targets and Hezbollah fires rockets

Israeli artillery units shelled targets in southern Lebanon throughout the night and airstrikes were heard throughout Beirut.

The official said Hezbollah fired rockets into central Israel, setting off air raid sirens and wounding a man in his 50s. Hezbollah said it fired volleys of a new medium-range missile called the Fadi 4 at the headquarters of two Israeli intelligence agencies near Tel Aviv.

Afif, the Hezbollah spokesman, said the rocket attack was “just the beginning.”

The Israeli military official said Hezbollah also fired projectiles at Israeli communities near the border, targeting soldiers without hurting anyone.

Israel says it has carried out “local raids.”

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military's top spokesman, said troops were carrying out “local ground attacks” on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon to ensure Israeli citizens could return to their homes in the north.

Shortly thereafter, Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7 sparked the war in Gaza. Israel launched retaliatory air strikes and the conflict steadily escalated. In recent weeks, Israel has unleashed a devastating wave of air strikes on large parts of Lebanon. Killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several of its top commanders, as well as many civilians.

Hagari said the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 had not been enforced and that southern Lebanon was “infested with Hezbollah terrorists and weapons.”

This resolution called for Hezbollah's withdrawal from the area between the border and the Litani River and for the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers to patrol the area. Israel says these and other provisions were never enforced. Lebanon has long accused Israel of violating other provisions of the resolution.

There was no immediate confirmation from either the Lebanese army or the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, that Israeli troops had crossed the border.

UNIFIL said the military had informed it the previous day of its “intent to conduct limited ground operations in Lebanon,” calling it a “dangerous development.” It noted that such an attack would also violate the UN resolution and called on both sides to de-escalate.

Israeli official says there are no plans to march on Beirut

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Monday his country was ready to deploy the army to support the resolution if there was a ceasefire. Lebanese forces would be unable to impose a deal on the far more powerful Hezbollah.

The military statements suggested that Israel could focus its ground operations on the narrow strip along the border rather than launching a larger invasion aimed at destroying Hezbollah, as it did in Gaza against the Palestinian Hamas.

The military official said a march on Beirut, as Israeli forces did during their 1982 invasion of Lebanon, was “not on the table.”

Hezbollah and Hamas are close allies backed by Iran, and any escalation over the past year has raised fears of a larger war in the Middle East that could involve Iran and the United States has sent military assets to the region in support of Israel.

The incursion follows weeks of heavy Israeli strikes against Hezbollah – including an airstrike that killed its longtime leader Nasrallah – and is intended to increase pressure on the group. The last time Israel and Hezbollah fought a ground battle lasted a month War in 2006.

There was no word on how long the operation would last, but the Army said soldiers had been training and preparing for the deployment over the past few months.

A ground operation marks a new and potentially risky phase of combat operations. It also threatens to unleash further devastation in Lebanon. Israeli attacks have killed over 1,000 people in Lebanon in the last two weeks, nearly a quarter of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes.

Hezbollah is a well-trained militia believed to have tens of thousands of fighters and an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles. The last round of fighting in 2006 ended in a stalemate, and both sides have spent the last two decades preparing for their next showdown.

Recent airstrikes have wiped out most of Hezbollah's leadership Explosions of hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies Hezbollah members suggest that Israel has penetrated deep into the group's upper echelons.

Hezbollah vowed on Monday to continue fighting even after its recent losses. The group's acting leader, Naim Kassem, said in a televised statement on Monday that Hezbollah was ready for a ground operation. He said commanders killed in recent weeks had already been replaced.

European countries have begun withdrawing their diplomats and citizens from Lebanon. A flight chartered by the British government is scheduled to leave Beirut on Wednesday to evacuate British nationals. The United Kingdom has also deployed 700 troops to a base in the nearby island nation of Cyprus to prepare for a possible evacuation of the estimated 5,000 British citizens in Lebanon.

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Mroue reported from Beirut.

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This story corrects the name of the Hezbollah spokesman.

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