The Israeli Defense Forces today announced that it started limited, localised and targeted ground raids against Hezbollah targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon, amid ongoing hostilities between the Jewish nation and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group.

Reports said that the Israeli troops had already entered Hezbollah tunnels near the nation’s border with Lebanon before the Israeli Defense Force made the ground invasion announcement on Tuesday morning.

The army stated that the targets were located in villages close to the Israel-Lebanon border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel.

Just a few hours before the IDF announcement, Israel warned residents in Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs, to evacuate. The warning was followed by a series of strikes in Beirut.

Notably, the IDF’s ground operation comes days after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. Meanwhile, over 1,000 people have died in the past two weeks since the cross-border hostilities first started, while up to a million others are likely to have been displaced.

Reports said that special Israeli forces entered a network of subterranean warrens that Hezbollah members reportedly dug near the Blue Line separating Israel from Lebanon.

Issuing a statement on Tuesday, the Israeli military said in a tweet that the Air Force and IDF Artillery are supporting the ground forces and that Operation Northern Arrows will continue according to the situational assessment and in parallel to combat in Gaza and in other arenas.

The IDF announcement follows a day after Israel’s National Security Cabinet approved the next phase of its war with Hezbollah. Furthermore, Israel had also informed the US about a number of operations, including ground operations, in Lebanon.

In the last 24 hours, nearly 95 people were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, mentioning that 172 others were also injured in the same period.

Hassan Nasrallah, the chief of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation and one of its founders, was eliminated yesterday, together with Ali Karki, the Commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front, and additional Hezbollah commanders, the Israeli military claimed on Saturday, adding Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorise the world.

The communication with the 64-year-old Nasrallah was lost since Friday night, a source close to Hezbollah told news agency AFP.

In a social media post on X, IDF said, “Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorise the world.’ The announcement comes after Israel’s overnight airstrikes in Lebanon’s capital city of Beirut that it claims targetted Nasrallah and other Hezbollah commanders.

In a statement, Israel’s military said the fight against Hezbollah is not over after it announced the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the group, which has yet to confirm his death. 

Military Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshan said that Hezbollah still has rockets and missiles and has the capability of shooting many of them simultaneously. He also added that the Iran-backed group was believed to have tens of thousands of rockets.

Israel is on high alert for a broader conflict after the elimination of Hezbollah leader Nasrallah in Beirut. “We hope this will change Hezbollah’s actions,” said Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani. 

 On Saturday, the Israeli military said in a statement that during Hassan Nastallah’s 32-year reign as the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, he was responsible for the murder of many Israeli civilians and soldiers, and the planning and execution of thousands of terrorist activities.

it further said that he was responsible for directing and executing terrorist attacks around the world in which civilians of various nationalities were murdered. The Israeli military added that Nasrallah was the central decision-maker and strategic leader of the organization.

“The Hezbollah terrorist organization, headed by Hassan Nasrallah, joined the Hamas terrorist organization in its war against the State of Israel on October 8th. Since then, Hezbollah has been continuing its ongoing and unprovoked attacks on the citizens of the State of Israel, dragging the State of Lebanon and the entire region into a wider escalation,” the statement further reads.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) today said that it carried out a “targeted strike” in Lebanon’s capital city of Beirut on Friday.

“The IDF (Israeli military) conducted a targeted strike in Beirut.  At this moment, there are no changes in the Home Front Command defensive guidelines. We will update regarding any changes. Details to follow,” it said in a statement.

According to reports, four rockets targeted the building in Dahieh. Ambulances swiftly transported the injured from the scene, while Lebanon’s civil defence urged citizens to stay home in order to keep roads clear for emergency workers.

At least five children have been killed in the strike, with more casualties expected as paramedics arrived at the scene, the reports said.

The attack occurred at rush hour, a little before 4 pm, according to reports.

The strike was captured in videos, revealing widespread debris and charred vehicles lining a bustling thoroughfare, with onlookers congregating around a structure emitting plumes of smoke. The strike was aimed at a building close to the al-Qaem mosque within the residential Haret Hreik neighborhood in south Beirut.

The development comes after Hezbollah unleashed an intense barrage of fire across the border following a wave of stunning attacks targeting the group’s communication devices.

On September 19, the Israeli Military said, “The IDF is currently striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon to degrade Hezbollah’s terrorist capabilities and infrastructure.”

For decades, Hezbollah has weaponized civilian homes, dug tunnels beneath them and used civilians as human shields—having turned southern Lebanon into a war zone, IDF said in a post on X.

The IDF was operating to bring security to northern Israel in order to enable the return of residents to their homes and achieve war goals.

With the direction of IDF intelligence, the IAF struck approximately 30 Hezbollah launchers and terrorist infrastructure sites, containing approximately 150 launcher barrels that were ready to fire projectiles toward Israeli territory.

Additionally, the IDF struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure and a weapons storage facility in multiple areas in southern Lebanon.

The recent series of attacks involved the simultaneous detonation of numerous pagers and walkie-talkies utilised by Hezbollah operatives across Lebanon. The coordinated explosions resulted in the tragic loss of at least 37 lives, including two children, and left nearly 3,000 individuals injured. Lebanon’s Health Minister confirmed that the majority of those harmed were civilians.