What you should know as Israel says it has launched a ground attack on Lebanon

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said its ground forces entered Lebanon overnight and launched what the military called “localized” raids to eradicate Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it had seen no signs of Israeli forces and that its troops were ready to confront them.

Israel said the attack would focus on the narrow strip of land just across the border. However, it also issued evacuation warnings for more of Lebanon, raising fears that a large-scale ground invasion would soon occur.

There has been a wave of Israeli airstrikes in recent days Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed and several of its top commanders while driving hundreds of thousands of Lebanese from their homes. Israel says a ground operation is now needed to return tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to their homes in the north, who have been under sustained rocket fire from Hezbollah since October 8.

Here’s what we know:

Have Israeli troops invaded Lebanon?

Israeli troops entered Lebanon late Monday, the military said. A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations, declined to say whether troops were flying in and out of the country or whether they were stationed there for the foreseeable future.

The Lebanese army and UNIFIL, a U.N. peacekeeping force stationed in the zone where Israeli troops allegedly entered, have not confirmed that Israeli troops crossed the border, although UNIFIL said it had been informed.

How far are Israeli ground troops in Lebanon?

The military official said that at this point Israeli ground forces were “within walking distance” of the border and were attacking small Lebanese villages hundreds of meters (yards) from Israeli territory.

According to the military, Hezbollah fighters remain in the area despite heavy Israeli bombing in recent weeks. They are said to be using the areas to launch attacks on Israel and stockpile weapons.

Have there been clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli troops?

There were no signs of ground fighting in southern Lebanon late Monday and early Tuesday.

The military official said there had been no clashes between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops so far.

Meanwhile, cross-border fire continued. Hezbollah said in statements that it had attacked groups of soldiers in several Israeli border areas with artillery fire and rockets. Israel said no soldiers were injured and the aim was unsuccessful.

Nevertheless, Israeli artillery units shelled targets in southern Lebanon throughout the night and the sounds of airstrikes could be heard throughout Beirut.

Hezbollah fired a rare volley of rockets into central Israel on Tuesday, wounding one man, Israeli medics said.

How extensive is the planned operation?

Israel has not given a timetable for how long the incursion will last and declined to say how far the troops will advance.

The military official said a march on Beirut, as Israel did in its 1982 invasion of Lebanon, was “not on the table.” At the time, the Israeli invasion was also portrayed as a limited raid to push back the Palestine Liberation Organization.

He added that the operation at its current stage did not reflect Israeli ground attacks in Gaza, where the military entered cities with heavy manpower, artillery and tanks.

That could change depending on whether the Israeli government decides to launch a more comprehensive ground operation. Chris Coyle, a resident of northern Israel, told AP on Monday that Israeli tanks were stationed along the border.

The troops who entered Lebanon were from the 98th Division, the military said. The division is responsible for some of the heaviest fighting in the Gaza Strip and includes elite units that specialize in attacks behind enemy lines.

Meanwhile, Israel is expanding its evacuation warnings in southern Lebanon, sending hundreds of thousands of Lebanese fleeing the south.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman urged residents of villages north of a United Nations-declared buffer zone to flee. According to a UN resolution that ended the war in 2006, the zone was to be controlled by a UN peacekeeping force and the Lebanese military.