The Israeli army announced Monday that its troops have begun limited and targeted ground operations against Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon.
The fresh offensive has displaced more than 830,000 people and killed 850 so far as Lebanese come to terms with the new ground invasion.
Families have been forced to shelter in their cars or out on the streets
Earlier, the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for all residents south of the Litani River, an area making up about eight percent of Lebanon’s territory and home to hundreds of thousands.
The invasion, paired with sustained Israeli strikes, came after Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group in Lebanon, launched rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. Israel also called for the evacuation of Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as the Dahiya, where Hezbollah holds sway, and parts of the eastern Bekaa Valley.
About 14 percent of Lebanon’s population is uprooted, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Social Affairs.
Human Rights Watch said last week that the Israeli military’s call for the immediate evacuation of everyone south of the Litani River could violate the laws of war. The group said that the sweeping nature of the call raised doubts about the protection of civilians.
The 2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah ended with a fragile cease-fire, but the truce terms have done little to ease uncertainty for those uprooted from the south. The agreement called for a full Israeli withdrawal by late January, but Israeli forces continued to hold five points inside Lebanon. Israeli officials said their troops would remain to protect Israeli towns along the northern border.
-AA