"In accordance with the decision from the political level, IDF began a few hours ago limited, local and targeted ground operations, based on exact intelligence, against Hezbollah's terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon", it says in a statement from IDF.
The targets constitute an immediate threat to communities in northern Israel, according to IDF.
The ground forces are receiving support from the Israeli air force and artillery.
Israel has placed forces near the border in recent weeks and according to its military, the soldiers have prepared themselves for months, according to a carefully worked-out plan.
Start of larger offensive?
That they are conducting raids before starting a larger operation is nothing unusual, according to Anders Ekholm, lieutenant colonel at the Defence University.
I see two alternatives that this can constitute. One can be what we call combat reconnaissance, a forward-deployed unit that goes in and seeks combat with the opponent to get leads on how they function and are organized, he said to TT on Monday evening, when unconfirmed reports of the raids came from American sources.
Another alternative can be that it is a straightforward diversionary maneuver, it can have the same partial purpose as the first, but that it exists to mislead the enemy about where the real thrust is coming from somewhere, continued Ekholm.
New attacks on Beirut
Meanwhile, the attacks on Lebanon's capital Beirut continue.
During the night, air raids were heard over large parts of the Lebanese capital and smoke rose from its southern suburbs. The attacks began about an hour after Israel issued evacuation orders for three specific buildings.
Over the past week, Israel has carried out intensive bombing raids against mainly Beirut's densely populated southern parts, where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed on Friday. The country's eastern and southern parts have also been attacked.
On Monday, 95 people were killed in Israeli attacks in the country, according to Lebanon's health department.
