JERUSALEM: Israel on Monday warned that displaced Lebanese driven from their homes by its military would not be able to return until the safety of Israelis living near the border was ensured.
The warning from the country’s defense minister came as Israeli troops pushed into new parts of southern. Lebanon as it intensified its campaign against Hezbollah.
In a briefing, Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters that soldiers were in “new locations that our troops were not operating yesterday.”
He described the latest ground operations as “limited and targeted,” declining to say how deep into Lebanon the troops would advance, or if soldiers would take up new positions.
Israel’s military, which has occupied five positions in southern Lebanon since a November 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah, sent additional forces into the country after Hezbollah fired a salvo of rockets on March 2, dragging Lebanon into an expanding regional war. Hezbollah said its attack was in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader on February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Israel has responded with an intensive bombing campaign on Lebanon. More than 800 people in Lebanon have been killed, and more than 800,000 have been driven from their homes, many from the south as well as from areas near the capital, Beirut.
Israeli troops advance west
Over the weekend, Israeli troops encircled the key southern Lebanese town of Khiyam, which is located about 6 kilometers north of the Israeli border, Lebanese security sources told Reuters.
Israeli forces had effectively taken control of the town, and were now advancing west toward the Litani River, a step that could leave large swathes of southern Lebanon both under Israeli control and cut off from the rest of the country, sources said.
Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat in southern Lebanon in the current campaign. Two Israeli officials said on Sunday that Israel and Lebanon were expected to hold talks in the coming days aimed at securing a durable ceasefire which would see Hezbollah disarmed.
Beirut had begun forming a delegation last week for prospective talks, but Lebanese officials told Reuters over the weekend they have not received confirmation that a meeting was going ahead.
Under the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah was to pull back from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese military was to take over, in exchange for Israel ceasing its bombardment of Lebanon. Israel says Lebanon has never upheld its part of the deal and it continued to carry out near-daily air strikes against what it said were Hezbollah positions and weapons.
Germany warns major Israeli ground campaign in Lebanon would worsen humanitarian situation
Germany is enormously concerned by the developments in Lebanon, said a government spokesperson in Berlin on Monday, and warned that a major Israeli ground invasion would significantly worsen the already tense humanitarian situation in the region.
“A glance at this part of the war zone fills us with concern because we see preparations for a major Israeli ground offensive, which would significantly worsen the already tense humanitarian situation in the region,” said the spokesperson.
The spokesperson added that Germany welcomed efforts to restart talks between Israel and Lebanon.
