Israel formalised its ground offensive in southern Lebanon on Monday, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announcing that troops from multiple divisions had begun targeted operations against Hezbollah strongholds in an arc stretching from the eastern hills around Khiam to villages in the central and western sectors, as Lebanese authorities reported that more than one million people had been displaced since the conflict began.
The military said it had launched “limited and targeted ground operations” against key Hezbollah positions to enhance its forward defensive line, with operations preceded by intensive artillery barrages and air force strikes to clear threats ahead of troop movements. The heaviest fighting was centred on Khiam, a hilltop Hezbollah stronghold a few kilometres from the Israeli border, where Israeli forces moved into multiple entry points simultaneously. Troops also advanced toward Aitaroun, Yaroun and Bint Jbeil in the central sector. Hezbollah said its forces repelled several advances, claiming to have struck a Merkava tank near the Khiam detention centre.
The 91st Galilee Regional Brigade launched the initial raid in the eastern sector on the night of March 14, during which troops killed several Hezbollah fighters. Monday’s announcement formalised and broadened that operation across multiple sectors simultaneously, with the 146th Reserve Division in the western sector and the 36th Division conducting separate raids in the east.
Hezbollah launched more than 100 rockets in a single barrage on Wednesday and has been firing at a rate of roughly 100 rockets per day since the conflict began on March 2, when the group opened fire on northern Israel following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint United States and Israeli strikes on February 28. Israel’s Northern Command chief described Hezbollah’s decision to attack as a strategic miscalculation, saying the group had “fallen into a strategic ambush.”
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz issued an explicit warning on Monday that hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians displaced south of the Litani River would not be permitted to return until Israel’s northern border communities were fully secured. Katz also threatened Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem by name, saying that if Qassem missed deceased Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Supreme Leader Khamenei, “he can meet them soon.”
Israeli and United States officials confirmed to Axios that Israel is planning a significantly larger operation aimed at seizing all territory south of the Litani River, modelled in scope on the Gaza campaign. A senior Israeli official told Axios: “Before this attack we were ready for a ceasefire in Lebanon, but after it there is no way back from a massive operation.” The Trump administration backs the expanded operation but has asked Israel to spare Beirut’s international airport and other Lebanese state infrastructure.
Lebanese authorities announced Monday that more than one million people, including women and children, had been forced from their homes since the conflict began, representing approximately 14 percent of Lebanon’s entire population. Israel has conducted airstrikes on bridges and roads connecting southern Lebanon to the rest of the country, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) have been escorting civilians from border villages toward Tyre and Sidon.
At least 820 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of the conflict, including entire families, according to the Lebanon Health Ministry, with 52 deaths and 154 injuries recorded in a single day during the most intense period of bombardment. In northern Israel, six people were wounded on Monday evening when a Hezbollah rocket impacted the city of Nahariya and sparked a fire.
