Israel invades Lebanon

Israel bombs Lebanon — IDF announced Tuesday that it had crossed the border into Lebanon for targeted raids

(Image credit: Jalaa Marey / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

Israel's military said Tuesday morning it had crossed the border into Lebanon for "limited, localized and targeted raids against Hezbollah" aimed at clearing "villages close to the border" that "pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel." Israeli fighter jets continued striking Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold where Israeli bombs days earlier had killed Hassan Nasrallah and other top Hezbollah officials.

"We know that the battle might be long," Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's deputy secretary-general and the highest-ranking official left, said on television Monday, but "we are ready for ground engagement with the enemy if they decide to enter."

Israel has been "emboldened by its recent battlefield gains against Hezbollah and appears intent on delivering a knockout blow to its archenemy," The Associated Press said. But "Hezbollah is a well-trained militia," and while its "capabilities remain unclear," a "ground operation marks a new and potentially risky phase of fighting" for Israel. Hezbollah fought Israel to a stalemate in their last war in 2006.

The Biden administration, worried that Israel's multi-front battle could escalate into a regional war with Iran, is sending a "few thousand" more troops to the Middle East, the Pentagon said Monday. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant the U.S. "agreed on the necessity of dismantling" Hezbollah's "attack infrastructure along the border," but he also "reaffirmed that a diplomatic resolution" is needed "as soon as feasible."

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