Israel Launches New Ground Incursion in Lebanon, Raising Fears for Truce

Middle East|Israel Launches New Ground Incursion in Lebanon, Raising Fears for Truce

Israel announced on Wednesday its first ground incursions in months into parts of southern Lebanon, an escalation aimed at further weakening Hezbollah as the Iran-backed militant group faces mounting pressure to disarm and avoid another potentially devastating war.

The Israeli military said the “targeted operations” had located and destroyed Hezbollah infrastructure, but it did not say when this happened. The Israeli military released footage showing what it said was soldiers conducting nighttime operations inside Lebanese territory.

For months, Israel has conducted near-daily strikes against what it describes as Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, intensifying them in recent weeks. The attacks have added to growing fears that the tenuous Israeli-Hezbollah cease-fire, which has been in place since November, may not hold.

Battered by last year’s war with Israel and struggling to recuperate, Hezbollah has yet to respond militarily to any of the Israeli attacks since the truce was agreed.

The United States and Israel have been stepping up pressure on Hezbollah to give up its arsenal — a core requirement of the cease-fire, which ended the country’s deadliest conflict in decades.

The war began when Hezbollah attacked Israel in solidarity with its Palestinian ally in the Gaza Strip, Hamas, which is also backed by Iran. The Israelis went to war against Hamas immediately after the militants led the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed roughly 1,200 people.