Did Israeli troops enter Lebanon?
Israel said its ground troops crossed into Lebanon overnight, launching what the military described as "localized" raids to root out Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it saw no sign of Israeli forces and its troops were ready to confront them.
Israel said the incursion would be focused on the narrow strip of land just across the border. But it also issued evacuation warnings covering a wider swath of Lebanon, raising fears that a large-scale ground invasion was soon to come.
In recent days, a wave of Israeli airstrikes has killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and several of his top commanders, while driving hundreds of thousands of Lebanese from their homes. Israel says a ground operation is now necessary to return tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to their homes in the north, pummeled by continuous rocket fire from Hezbollah since Oct. 8.
Here's what we know:
Did Israeli troops enter Lebanon?
The military says that Israeli troops entered Lebanon late Monday. A military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations declined to say whether troops were rotating in and out of the country or were stationed there for the foreseeable future.
The Lebanese army and UNIFIL, a U.N. peacekeeping force stationed in the zone that Israeli forces purportedly entered, denied that Israeli troops crossed the border, although UNIFIL said it was notified that they were going to, UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said there was "no ground incursion" going on in the south "right now."
How far into Lebanon are Israeli ground troops?
The military official said that at this point Israeli ground troops are "within walking distance" of the border, targeting the small Lebanese villages hundreds of meters from Israeli territory.
The military says Hezbollah militants remain in the area, despite heavy Israeli bombardment over the past few weeks. It says they are using the areas to launch attacks on Israel and to store weapons.
Have there been clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli troops?
There were no signs of ground combat late Monday and early Tuesday in southern Lebanon.
The military official said there have been no clashes between Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops so far.
Meanwhile, cross-border fire continued. Hezbollah announced in statements that it had targeted groups of soldiers in several Israeli border areas with artillery shelling and rockets. Israel said no soldiers were injured and the targeting was unsuccessful.
Still, Israeli artillery units pummeled targets in southern Lebanon through the night and the sounds of airstrikes were heard throughout Beirut.
Hezbollah fired a rare volley of rockets toward central Israel on Tuesday, injuring one man, Israeli paramedics said.
Source: Associated Press
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