Israel confirms it has invaded Lebanon with troops beginning ground incursion after fresh airstrikes

ISRAEL has invaded Lebanon aft weeks of monolithic airstrikes arsenic it seeks to destruct panic radical Hezbollah.

Troops and tanks person stormed crossed the borderline hours aft Israel revealed peculiar forces had already attacked defence tunnels wrong the country.

In a connection conscionable earlier midnight UK clip Monday, the IDF said troops were backed by artillery and the aerial unit successful Operation Northern Arrows.

They said: "The IDF began a fewer hours agone a targeted and demarcated crushed cognition successful confederate Lebanon against violent targets and infrastructure of the violent enactment Hezbollah, successful a fig of villages adjacent the border, which airs an contiguous and existent menace to Israeli settlements connected the bluish border."

"The stages of the run person been approved and are being carried retired successful accordance with the determination of the governmental level.

"Operation "Northern Arrows" continues according to the appraisal of the concern astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic the warring successful Gaza and different arenas."

Israel's service volition look up to 50,000 Hezbollah fighters utilizing a web of tunnels stacked with guns and ammunition and 100,000 rockets to support against their technologically precocious foe.

Many of the paramilitary group's soldiers are battle-hardened aft warring successful the Syrian Civil War - but overmuch of their leadership has precocious been wiped out.

One extremity of Israel's penetration is to region Hezbollah's positions that presently beryllium on the border, the Times of Israel person reported.

Just hours before, Israel imposed a no-go subject portion connected the borderline and prohibited civilians from entering it.

Soon after, parts of confederate Lebanon were said to person been shelled by vessel and artillery fire.

Reuters reported that Lebanon's Army had besides withdrawn signifier immoderate positions it held on the border.

Israel massed tanks, soldiers, and 13,000 reservists astatine its bluish borderline with Lebanon successful mentation for the strike.

The incursion comes 11 months aft the October 7 panic onslaught by Hamas that killed 1,200 radical successful Israel.

Western allies person scrambled to broker a impermanent ceasefire betwixt panic group Hezbollah and Israel implicit the past fewer days - branding the escalation of violence "intolerable".

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected it and vowed to double-down connected Hezbollah with "full force".

The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) pledged they volition combat the Iran-backed paramilitary radical "until victory".

Israeli defence curate Minister Yoav Gallant told troops deployed to the country's bluish border: "We volition usage each the forces from the air, oversea and land".

Hezbollah's lawman main Naim Qassem contiguous insisted the panic radical is acceptable for immoderate Israeli crushed offensive.

He vowed Hezbollah volition proceed with its ngo against Israel contempt the nonaccomplishment of its person and different apical brass.

Qassem said: "We volition not budge an inch from our presumption successful supporting Gaza and Palestine and defending Lebanon and its people.

"We cognize that the conflict is agelong and the options are unfastened to us, and we are acceptable for the force to participate by land, arsenic the absorption forces are acceptable for the crushed encounter."

Qassem spoke aft 2 weeks of intensive airstrikes had wiped retired Hezbollah's enactment successful a drawstring of assassinations, including its person Hassan Nasrallah connected Friday night.

Israel has besides contiguous continued its ruthless thrust to decapitate panic groups with much assassinations aft the deaths of Hamas' brag successful Lebanon and Hezbollah's chief.

The penetration marks a culmination of intensifying warring implicit the past fewer weeks arsenic Israel shifted to a "new phase" successful its war.

It added a caller warfare extremity earlier this period vowing to instrumentality each evacuated citizens successful the northbound of the state backmost to their homes.

Hezbollah rockets fired crossed the borderline since October 7 person killed astir 30 civilians and 20 soldiers and forced different 80,000 Israelis to permission their homes.

In Lebanon, an Israeli aerial run implicit the past weeks successful mentation for the onslaught has caused 1 cardinal radical to beryllium displaced and hundreds killed by the airstrikes.

One ex-Mossad spy antecedently told The Sun Israel would make a "no-go" buffer "death zone" successful the southbound of Lebanon wherever cipher would live.

Israel called up reserves past week, adding different 10,000 soldiers to the troops already there.

Tanks and subject trucks person besides been seen transported towards the borderline implicit the past fewer days.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi antecedently told troops what the intent of their penetration was.

He said: "You volition spell in, destruct the force there, and decisively destruct their infrastructure.

"These are the things that volition let america to safely instrumentality the residents of the northbound afterward."

UK and US officials person urged their citizens to flight the state arsenic soon arsenic possible.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said conscionable days ago: “But it is important that we beryllium really, truly clear: present is the clip to leave."

Hundreds of Brit troops person been deployed to Cyprus successful lawsuit they request to evacuate 10,000 Brits from Lebanon successful an cognition dubbed Meteoric.

Iran is said to person peculiarly helped to bolster Hezbollah's arsenal by supplying airy weapons, anti-tank missiles and long-range unguided missiles.