Israel is launching small raids on the border with Lebanon, officials said

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel declared three communities along its northern border a “military closed zone” on Monday, in a possible precursor to a ground invasion of Lebanon.

The order restricts entry and exit from the communities only to the military. The cities are Metula, Misgav Am and Kfar Giladi.

The order does not necessarily mean that Israeli troops will immediately invade Lebanon. Areas can also be declared military exclusion zones if an imminent threat is detected.

But the Israeli army has significantly increased its troops along the border with Lebanon in recent days, and its commanders have said they are ready to send troops if the government gives the order.

This is a recent update. AP's earlier story follows below.

BEIRUT (AP) –

Israel has launched small ground strikes against Hezbollah as it prepares for a larger ground operation in Lebanon, officials said Monday. Hezbollah vowed to continue the fight even as its longtime leader and other senior officials were recently wiped out by Israeli strikes.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Israel had informed the U.S. of the raids, which he said were described as “limited operations focused on Hezbollah infrastructure near the border.”

There were no reports of direct clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters on Lebanese soil. The last time the two enemies engaged in ground combat was a month-long war in 2006.

A Western official, a diplomat in Cairo whose country is directly involved in de-escalation efforts, said an Israeli ground operation in Lebanon was “imminent.” The diplomat said Israel had communicated its plans to the US and other Western allies and that the operation would be “limited”.

Because of the sensitivity of the situation, the official spoke on condition of anonymity. It was not clear whether Israel had made a final decision on a broader operation.

The Israeli military did not comment, but has made it clear in recent days that it is making such preparations possible ground operation. Last week, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi told troops that Israel Punishment of air raids should “prepare the ground for your possible entry and further degrade Hezbollah.”

Israeli strikes killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and six of his top commanders and officials over the past 10 days and have attacked thousands of militant targets across much of Lebanon, according to the military. According to the Health Ministry, over 1,000 people have been killed in the country in the last two weeks, almost a quarter of them women and children.

Early Monday, an airstrike hit a residential building in central Beirut, killing three Palestinian militants. Israel seemed to send a clear message that no part of Lebanon is off limits.

Despite the severe setback Hezbollah has suffered in recent weeks, acting leader Naim Kassem said in a televised statement that the group's fighters were ready should Israel decide to launch a ground offensive. He said the killed commanders had already been replaced.

He added that Hezbollah, which fought against Israel in 2006, expected that “the battle could be protracted.”

A founding member of the militant group and a longtime deputy of Nasrallah, Kassem will remain in his acting position until the group's leadership chooses a replacement. The man widely expected to take the top job is Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah who oversees Hezbollah's political affairs.

Hezbollah's capabilities are unclear after a series of heavy strikes

Hezbollah has significantly increased its rocket attacks in the past week to several hundred per day, but most were intercepted or fell in open areas. Several people were injured in Israel. There have been no fatalities since two soldiers died near the border on September 19.

But Hezbollah's capabilities remain unclear.

Just two weeks ago, a strike like Monday's in central Beirut – outside the main areas where Hezbollah operates and near a busy transport hub where buses and taxis normally ply – would have been and likely would have been seen as a major escalation led to a further escalation of Hezbollah's long-range attack on Israel.

But the unspoken rules of the long-standing conflict no longer appear to be in force.

It is possible that Hezbollah is holding back to conserve resources for a larger fight, including a threatened Israeli ground invasion. But the militant group could also be in turmoil after Israeli intelligence appeared to have penetrated the highest levels.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a meeting with Israeli troops on Monday that Israel would use “all the capabilities we have,” hinting at a ground operation. “You are part of this effort,” he added.

Some European countries began withdrawing their diplomats and citizens from Lebanon on Monday. Germany, which has been calling on its citizens to leave Lebanon since October 2023, sent a military plane to evacuate relatives of diplomats and others. Bulgaria sent a government jet to get the first group of its citizens out, giving priority to families with children and vulnerable groups.

Over the past week, Israel has frequently attacked Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence, among others the massive strike on Friday that killed Nasrallah. However, locations near the city center were not affected.

The attack early Monday killed three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small left-wing faction that has not been significantly involved in the months-long fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack but is widely believed to have carried it out.

Also on Monday, Hamas announced that its top commander in Lebanon, Fatah Sharif, and his family were killed in an airstrike on the Al-Buss refugee camp in the southern port city of Tyre. The Israeli military confirmed it was targeting him.

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Sharif was an employee and was placed on unpaid administrative leave in March as it investigated allegations about his political activities. Israel has accused the organization, known as UNRWA, of ties to Palestinian militant groups, while the agency says it is committed to neutrality is working to prevent such infiltration.

After the Hamas attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and rockets into northern Israel triggered the war in the Palestinian territory. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies and are both supported by Iran. Hezbollah said it would continue attacks in solidarity with Palestinians until there was a ceasefire in Gaza.

Israel responded to the rockets with airstrikes in Lebanon, and fighting has steadily escalated over the past year. The Lebanese government is calling off the fighting could have displaced up to a million peoplealthough the UN estimate is around 200,000.

Tens of thousands of Israelis were also displaced. Israel has vowed to keep fighting until the attacks stop and its citizens can return home.

Israel shows little interest in calls for a ceasefire as it bleeds a long-time enemy

The United States and its allies have called for a ceasefire in hopes of avoiding further escalation that could attract Iran and trigger a wider war. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed little interestwhile his country achieves military successes against a long-time enemy.

France, which has close ties with Lebanon, has joined the United States by calling for a ceasefire. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called on Israel to refrain from a ground offensive during a visit to Beirut on Monday.

Barrot also called on Hezbollah to cease fire on Israel, saying the group bears “a great responsibility in the current situation since it has decided to enter the conflict.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said after a meeting with Barrot that the country was committed to an immediate ceasefire, followed by the deployment of Lebanese troops in the south, in line with a U.N. Security Council resolution that ended but never ended the 2006 war was fully implemented.

Hezbollah, which has tens of thousands of battle-hardened fighters and long-range missiles capable of hitting anywhere in Israel, has long been considered the most powerful militant group in the region and a key partner of Iran in threatening and deterring Israel.

But Hezbollah has never experienced an attack like this, which began with a sophisticated attack on his pagers and walkie-talkies In mid-September, dozens of people were killed and around 3,000 injured – including many fighters, but also many civilians.

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This story has been updated to correct that Monday's strike hit an apartment building in central Beirut, but did not level it.

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Melzer reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, as well as Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Veselin Toshkov in Sofia, Bulgaria, contributed reporting.

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