The Israeli military invaded southern Lebanon Monday when it launched so-called "limited ground operations" against the country's Iran-backed armed group, Hezbollah.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when the Tehran-backed Hezbollah targeted Israel in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in U.S.-Israeli strikes.
Israel responded with air raids on its northern neighbor and troop incursions into border areas.
"In recent days, IDF troops from the 91st division have begun limited and targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, aimed at enhancing the forward defence area," the military said in a statement.
"This activity is part of broader defensive efforts to establish and strengthen a forward defensive posture, which includes the dismantling of ... infrastructure and the elimination of ... operating in the area, in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel," it said.
"Prior to the troops' entry into the area, the IDF conducted strikes using both artillery and the Israeli Air Force," it added.
The announcement echoes similar statements issued in 2024, when Israel and Hezbollah fought a major war in Lebanon, and in 2023, when the military launched a genocidal war on Gaza in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 incursion.
In a separate briefing to journalists, military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani claimed Hezbollah had recently expanded its activities in southern Lebanon.
"We have identified Hezbollah is intending to expand their operations ... and firing hundreds of rockets a day" toward Israel, he said.
"They have also sent hundreds of Radwan ... to the south (of Lebanon)," he said, referring to an elite unit within Hezbollah.
'New locations'
Shoshani said the ground operations were "limited in target against locations where we understand Hezbollah is posing a threat toward our civilians," he added.
"Those are new locations that our troops were not operating in yesterday," he said.
"We are also conducting targeted ground operations against specific locations where Hezbollah is operating from," Shoshani said, adding that "we'll operate for as much as we need."
In recent days, Hezbollah has reported targeting gathering points of Israeli forces on the border with Lebanon, as well as movements inside several border towns, including "direct clashes" in Khiam.
The town, located across the border from the Israeli town of Metula, was the first point into which Israeli forces advanced after the start of the war.
Since Saturday, Hezbollah has repeatedly announced targeting Israeli forces and vehicles at several positions inside Khiam.
Israel preceded its ground operations with strikes on several bridges and roads that connect southern Lebanon to the rest of the country.
Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli military has issued evacuation warnings for wide areas in southern Lebanon, extending more than 40 kilometers (24.85 miles) from its border.
No evacuations from north Israel
The Israeli military has repeatedly said it would not evacuate Israelis from northern parts of the country, as it had done in the previous 2024 war.
During that conflict, Israel evacuated tens of thousands of residents from northern communities until a cease-fire was struck in November 2024.
Despite that cease-fire, Israel had conducted near-daily airstrikes on Hezbollah targets inside Lebanon.
In recent days, the group and Iran have launched coordinated rocket and missile attacks against Israel.
Lebanese authorities said Sunday the death toll from Israeli attacks had reached 850 during the current war, while more than 830,000 people had registered as displaced.
Israel, meanwhile, said no direct talks were planned with Lebanon to end the fighting, which has been raging for two weeks.