Israel has launched what it has described as "limited, localized, and targeted ground raids" in southern Lebanon, marking an escalation in its continuing offensive against Hezbollah.

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) the operation is aimed at the Iran-backed group's "infrastructure" which it says "pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel".

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant earlier implied the army was ready for a ground operation, telling troops near the Lebanese border Israel was prepared to use forces "from the air, sea, and land" to target Hezbollah.

Hezbollah's deputy leader said the group was prepared for any Israeli operation inside Lebanon.

In a statement posted on X at 02:00 local time on Tuesday morning, the IDF confirmed troops had moved across the border following a build-up of tanks and other armour in northern Israel.

The Lebanese army is pulling back troops stationed on its southern border to at least 5km (3 miles) north, according to Reuters news agency, which cited a Lebanese security source.

On Monday, Gallant told Israeli troops at the border that Israel's military would use all "the means at our disposal" to allow displaced people to return home in the north of the country.

In a short video, he said the "elimination" of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut on Friday "is a very important step, but it is not everything".

He added that "everything that needs to be done - will be done" and that "we will use all the forces from the air, sea and land".

The Israeli government has pledged to make it safe for tens of thousands of its citizens to return to their homes after nearly a year of cross-border fighting, which began with Hezbollah firing rockets at the start of the war in Gaza.

The Lebanese armed group - which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the US, UK and other countries - is known to have extensive tunnel networks as well as bunkers and other military infrastructure just over the border from Israel.

Hezbollah's deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said the group - which is thought to have tens of thousands of well-trained fighters - was ready for an Israeli ground offensive. He described their attacks on Israel so far as the "minimum", adding that the battle could be long.

Hezbollah - which is backed by Iran - has experienced mass casualties from exploding pagers and walkie-talkies, a wave of assassinations of its military commanders, devastating air strikes which have killed civilians - and the use of bunker-busting bombs in Beirut, which killed the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday.

Explosions lit up the night sky on Monday as airstrikes hit Hezbollah’s stronghold of Dahieh, in Beirut's southern suburbs, near the airport.

The attacks came shortly after the Israeli military warned residents to evacuate buildings it said were linked to the group.

In southern Lebanon, there were reports of heavy shelling in the border town of Aita al-Shaab.

And near the city of Sidon, officials say a strike hit a building in a crowded Palestinian refugee camp, the first time it has been attacked in this conflict.

Lebanese officials say more than 1,000 people have been killed in the past two weeks, while up to a million may now be displaced.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden said "we should have a ceasefire now".

"I'm more aware than you might know and I'm comfortable with them stopping," Biden told reporters when asked if he was comfortable with Israeli plans for a cross-border incursion.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy spoke to his US counterpart Antony Blinken on Monday, with the US State Department saying they discussed efforts to resolve the conflict. Both men stressed the need for a ceasefire and that the hostages taken by Hezbollah's Palestinian ally Hamas in the 7 October attack on Israel need to be returned home.

The European Union's member states have called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said "any further military intervention would dramatically aggravate the situation and it has to be avoided".

(Source:BBC)