Israel begins ground incursion in southern Lebanon: What does it mean for the region?

The moment that many feared while others anticipated is here. Israel has launched a ground operation into southern Lebanon early on Tuesday morning, days after it carried out continuous airstrikes, targeting multiple Hezbollah targets.

The ground offensive comes hours after the Israeli war Cabinet approved plans for the newest phase of the war against the Lebanese-based group and as the United States continued to voice concerns.

What do we know of this offensive? What does it mean for the region? How are other world players reacting to the news?

We take a look at all of it and tried to break it down and simplify it for you.

Beginning of the ground invasion

In the wee hours of Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) crossed into southern Lebanon and began “limited” raids against Hezbollah targets in the border area. The Jewish nation said that its troops supported by airstrikes and artillery had launched ground raids targeting Hezbollah “in villages close to the border”. The targets “pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” the military added.

On X, the IDF wrote, “In accordance with the decision of the political echelon, a few hours ago, the IDF began limited, localised, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon. These targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel.

“These operations were approved and carried out in accordance with the decision of the political echelon. Operation “Northern Arrows” will continue according to the situational assessment and in parallel to combat in Gaza and in other arenas.”

As Israel began its ground attack, local residents in border areas spoke of heavy shelling and the sound of helicopters and drones overhead.

An Al Jazeera report stated that Israel had carried out a raid on the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp in the coastal city of Sidon in southern Lebanon. This has resulted in the deaths of five people, reported the news outlet.

Meanwhile, Israel has said that Hezbollah has been launching rockets at Israel since midnight. However, none of the missile strikes have caused any significant damage.

The aim of the ground invasion, as per Israeli officials, is to remove Hezbollah positions along Israel’s northern border, thus creating the conditions for a diplomatic agreement under which the group’s forces would be pushed back beyond the Litani River, in line with UN Security Council resolution.

Furthermore, Israel has said that the operation would be limited in both time and scope and was not intended to occupy southern Lebanon.

Timing matters

The timing of Israel’s ground invasion of southern Lebanon is significant. It all began with the pager and walkie-talkie explosions, killing 37 and injuring around 3,000. Following this, Israel began a wave of airstrikes against Lebanon, hitting more than 1,300 targets, and wiping out the majority of Hezbollah’s top command, including its chief — Hassan Nasrallah .

Interestingly, Israel has also been simultaneously carrying out small, targeted raids into southern Lebanon, entering Hezbollah’s tunnels located along the border, said a Wall Street Journal report. The purpose of this was to gather intelligence and further degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities.

As Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told troops on Monday, “The elimination of Nasrallah is a very important step, but it is not the final one. We will employ all the capabilities at our disposal. We will use all the means that may be required — your forces, other forces, from the air, from the sea and on land.”

World reacts

Following Israel’s ground invasion in Lebanon, the United States, the Jewish nation’s main ally, said that it sees the offensive as being in line with the country’s right to defend itself against threats from terror groups.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said, “We agreed on the necessity of dismantling attack infrastructure along the border to ensure that Lebanese Hezbollah cannot conduct October 7-style attacks on Israel’s northern communities,” he said in a statement posted to X after speaking with Gallant.

Furthermore, he issued a warning to Iran of “serious consequences” should it directly attack Israel in response to their attacks on the Tehran-backed militant group.

Austin, however, reiterated that a diplomatic resolution was required. “I reaffirm that a diplomatic resolution is required to ensure that civilians can return safely to their homes on both sides of the border,” he said in his statement.

Meanwhile, the UK government has announced that a charter plane has been arranged to evacuate Britons and their dependents from Lebanon. British nationals and their spouse or partner, and children under the age of 18 are eligible, with vulnerable people being given priority. The flight is scheduled to leave Beirut on Wednesday. The UK government will pay to charter the flight, which will depart from Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, but British nationals will be expected to pay a fee of £350 per seat, reports the BBC.

Consequences of Israel’s ground offensive

But what exactly is Israel hoping to achieve through this ground incursion? According to some, it is a test to assess Hezbollah’s true and actual military might. Omar Rahman, a fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, told Al Jazeera, “Obviously, Israel would be making a fatal mistake to send in, at the start, a massive ground invasion given what has happened in the past fighting Hezbollah.

“It’s bombarded the whole of the south. Now it is sending in these special forces, which are a sort of expeditionary force to probe and see the landscape, see the level of Hezbollah resistance that remains in light of both the bombardment and the confusion that must be existing within Hezbollah’s ranks as a result of the assassinations, the killing of Hassan Nasrallah and a lot of the senior leadership,” he said.

But, analysts believe that eradicating Hezbollah , as Israel wishes to do so, is almost impossible.

A broader ground invasion in Lebanon would also be highly provocative in the region, relieving memories of the 2006 war, which lasted for a month, causing untold damage and destruction.

Many note that a larger invasion would be risky for Israel itself. Analysts believe that the situation awaiting Israel in Lebanon would be different than that in Gaza. The Hezbollah has grown to about 20,000 to 30,000, with thousands more in reserve. Their special forces unit, the Radwan Force, has 3,000 soldiers who are trained specifically to operate in the south and know it like the back of their hand. The Lebanese group, with the backing of Iran, also has many high-tech and advanced weapons in its arsenal.

Defence specialists also note that if the incursion is to achieve a buffer zone, this won’t help Israel. That’s because rocket attacks would continue to take place and Israel would have to deploy troops to maintain this area. This would further drag them into an economic loss.

With inputs from agencies