Israel launches new ground incursions into southern Lebanon, escalating Hezbollah war

The Israeli army on Tuesday launched a series of ground incursions into southern Lebanon, as the conflict sparked by the US-Israeli assault on Iran spills outside the Gulf.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced the deployment of troops from the 91st Division to southern Lebanon, who have now positioned themselves at several new "strategic points" along the border.

It comes after Hezbollah fired missiles into Israel on Sunday, launching a wave of air strikes devastating southern Lebanon, killing at least 52 people by Tuesday.

The Israeli military said it is "striving to strengthen the security of the people of the North by conducting large-scale strikes against Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in order to counter threats and prevent any attempt at infiltration into Israel".

The military spokesperson did not refer to the operation as a "ground invasion" but a "tactical measure".

The Israeli army was already occupying five points in Lebanon’s south in violation of the 2024 ceasefire between the military and Hezbollah.

In response to the latest assault, Hezbollah said that if Israel wants war, then "let it be an open war", hinting at the Lebanese movement's direct involvement in the US-Israel conflict with Iran, despite attempts by Beirut to cool tensions.

"The era of patience has ended, leaving us no option but to return to resistance," senior official Mahmoud Qmati said.

Lebanese troops evacuated their positions in the towns of Aita al-Shaab, Qouzah, Dibil, ​​Ramieh, Ain Ibl, and Rmeish, in the Bint Jbeil district, and withdrew toward their headquarters in Aitit, in an apparent order by Beirut for soldiers not to engage with Israeli forces.

The Israeli army’s incursion comes after heavy airstrikes were launched at dawn on several locations in Shia-majority areas in southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs, following a series of evacuation warnings issued to residents. Later on Tuesday, Israel struck two buildings in Beirut without prior warning, claiming to have targeted a meeting of senior Hezbollah officials.

Targeted towns and villages include Kharayeb, in the Saida district, Aita al-Shaab in Bint Jbeil, and several areas of the Nabatieh and Marjayoun districts.

In the capital, the Israeli army said it had carried out "a series of strikes against command centres, weapons depots and satellite communications equipment belonging to Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters".

Among the suburbs targeted are Ghobeiri, Haret Hreik, and Hadath, which were frequently under attack in Israel's assault on Lebanon in 2024, in parallel with the war in Gaza. Several buildings have been reduced to rubble following the bombing.

Earlier, Hezbollah said it had launched a salvo of rockets at the Israeli base of Nafah in the occupied Golan Heights, as well as at an air surveillance and operations management base at Meron, in northern Israel.

Human rights groups have warned that the Israel-Hezbollah war will bring further hardship on Lebanese, with around 30,000 people fleeing southern Lebanon following the Israeli assault.

"When war crimes and other grave abuses take place with complete impunity, they are likely to happen again, with civilians paying the price," said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Allied countries need to put pressure on Israel and Hezbollah to abide by the laws of war and minimize civilian harm."

Israel's escalation in Lebanon comes after it launched a wave of strikes on Monday, which killed at least 52 people across various parts of the country. The strikes were carried out in response to rocket fire launched by Hezbollah, which came in response to the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Saturday.

Hezbollah’s actions have been condemned by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who then issued a ban on the group’s military activities.

In an unprecedented move, Shia clans from the eastern Bekaa Valley have issued a statement backing Aoun and Salam's stance that there be no military or security arms outside Lebanese state authority.

The statement calls for full state control of all weapons in the country and a permanent ceasefire with Israel.

Over the weekend, Israel and the US launched a coordinated military operation in Iran, targeting key officials and military leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. At least 787 people have been killed in Iran as of Tuesday, according to the Iranian Red Crescent. The latest conflict came months after the US and Israel struck several nuclear sites and killed several Iranian figures amid the 12-day war back in June.

Attacks in Iraq

Meanwhile, in northern Iraq, drone strikes blamed on Iran hit a camp hosting Iranian Kurdish fighters and family members on Tuesday, a local official and an exiled opposition group said.

Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region hosts camps and rear bases operated by several Iranian Kurdish rebel groups, which have repeatedly faced cross-border strikes from Iran.

A local official in the Koysinjaq district, Tareq al-Haidari, told AFP that three Iranian drones targeted the Azadi camp, while one drone directly hit the camp's hospital, wounding one person.

Group commander Mohammed Nazif Kader told AFP "drones and missiles attacked the camp", blaming the attack on Iran.

Gulf Keystone, the operator of the oil fields in Sheikhan in the Kurdistan Region, announced on Monday a temporary halt to oil production, stating that all necessary measures have been taken to "protect workers and ensure the safety of facilities" in response to the intensification in the region.

In a statement, the company said that the suspension is a purely precautionary measure, stressing that the Sheikhan oil fields have not sustained any direct damage as a result of recent events and that the infrastructure and oil reserves remain intact.

Concerns have been raised throughout Iraq that it could be dragged into the conflict as several fighters from Iran-backed groups Kataeb Hezbollah and other factions in the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF)  have already been killed amid the escalation.

US embassies closed, non-emergency staff told to leave as tensions escalate

In response to the ongoing escalation, several US embassies in the MENA region have closed, and staff at other diplomatic facilities evacuated.

The US embassy in Kuwait on Tuesday said it was "closed until further notice".

"We have cancelled all regular and emergency consular appointments," the embassy said on X.

The US State Department also ordered non-emergency government personnel and their family members to leave the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, and Jordan.

The US Mission to Saudi Arabia was closed following a drone attack, ​with Americans in Jeddah, Riyadh, and Dhahran ​told to seek shelter as drones and rockets fall on Gulf cities.