Israeli troop reinforcements cast doubt over ‘limited’ Lebanon invasion

Troops from a third Israeli division have joined the ground invasion of southern Lebanon, raising questions over the scope of the operation.

Although Israel has insisted its week-long ground operation was to be “limited” and “targeted”, elements of three divisions are now involved in the fighting after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that its 91st Division had joined the ground incursion overnight.

Night vision images released on Monday showed a column of infantry moving into Lebanon with heavy rucksacks and sleeping pads, suggesting it was more than a short raid.

According to the statement, the division’s forces were redeployed to northern Israel over the last two weeks, joining units from the 36th and 83rd divisions already involved in the fighting in Lebanon.

On the anniversary of Hamas’s 7 October attack, Israel’s year-long conflict is expanding rapidly on multiple fronts, including the expectation of a major and imminent retaliation against Iran for last week’s heavy ballistic missile strikes on Israel.

The widening conflict risks further drawing in the United States, which has provided crucial military and diplomatic support to Israel. Iran-allied militant groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have joined in with long-distance strikes on Israel.

A fresh round of airstrikes hit Beirut’s suburbs late on Sunday as Israel also intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza, calling for evacuations of the north of the territory amid renewed military operations.

Israel’s military confirmed a Hezbollah attack on the northern city of Haifa, though it was not immediately clear whether shrapnel from “fallen projectiles” was from rockets or interceptors. Hezbollah said it tried to hit a nearby naval base. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it treated 10 people, most of them hurt by shrapnel.

A separate Israeli strike earlier on Sunday in the town of Qamatiyeh, south-east of Beirut, killed six people, including three children, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported more than 30 strikes overnight into Sunday, while Israel’s military said about 130 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.

Last week, Israel launched what it called a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon after it killed the longtime Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah , and most of his top commanders in a series of attacks. The fighting is the worst since Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006.

At least 1,400 Lebanese people, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes. Israel says it aims to drive the militant group from the blue line boundary between the two countries so tens of thousands of Israeli citizens can return home.

The Israeli military is setting up a forward operating base near a UN peacekeeping mission on the blue line in southern Lebanon. The base put peacekeepers at risk, said an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion, refused the Israeli military’s request to vacate some of its positions in advance of the ground incursion.

In Gaza, where there has also been a sharp rise in Israeli military operations, an Israeli strike hit a mosque where displaced people were sheltering near the main hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah.

Another four were killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter near the town. The IDF claimed both strikes targeted militants.

Israel’s military announced a new air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, home to a refugee camp dating to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. Israel has carried out several operations there only to see militants regroup. The military said three soldiers were severely wounded in Sunday’s fighting in northern Gaza.

Israel reiterated its call for the complete evacuation of heavily destroyed northern Gaza, where up to 300,000 people are estimated to remain.

“We are in a new phase of the war,” the Israeli military said in leaflets dropped over the area. “These areas are considered dangerous combat zones.” A later statement said three projectiles were identified crossing from northern Gaza into Israeli territory, with no injuries reported.

Frantic residents fled again. One, Samia Khader, said: “Since October 7 to the present day, this is the 12th time that I and my children, eight individuals, have been homeless and thrown into the streets and do not know where to go.”