Israel informed the United States that it plans to launch a limited ground attack on Lebanon

US officials said Israel had informed the US that it intended to launch a limited ground attack on Lebanon.

The operation could begin as soon as Monday, an official previously told CBS, the BBC’s US partner.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier implied that the military was ready for a ground campaign, telling troops near the Lebanese border that Israel was ready to use forces “from the air, sea and on land” to target Hezbollah.

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

There have been calls for international restraint, with the United Nations chief and the EU’s foreign policy chief urging Israel to avoid any ground invasion.

The Lebanese army is withdrawing troops stationed on the southern border to the north at least 5km, according to Reuters news agency citing Lebanese security sources.

Gallant told Israeli troops at the border that the Israeli army would use all “the means at our disposal” to allow displaced people to return home to the north of the country.

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

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

Several explosions were heard in the capital Beirut late Monday.

They came after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ordered residents to evacuate three areas in southern Beirut “immediately” on Monday night.

In a social media post, IDF Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee said: “You are close to the interests and facilities of the terrorist group Hezbollah, and therefore the IDF will take strong action against them again.”

The New York Times previously reported that Israeli commando units had made brief incursions into Lebanese territory in preparation for a possible broader invasion.

The mayor of Jdeidet Marjayoun, a Christian-majority Lebanese village less than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the border, told Reuters on Monday that two locals had received what appeared to be calls. as from the Israeli army asking them to evacuate the area as soon as possible.

Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said the force was ready for an Israeli ground attack. He described the group’s attacks on Israel so far as “minimal,” adding that the battle could be long.

European Union member states have called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said “any further military intervention would worsen the situation and must be avoided”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “does not want to see any form of ground invasion” by Israel into Lebanon, the Secretary-General’s spokesman said.

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

“I understand better than you probably know and I feel comfortable that they stopped,” Mr. Biden told reporters when asked if he was satisfied with Israel’s cross-border attack plan. .

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told reporters that “the best way forward is an immediate ceasefire”.

Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas both confirmed killing the head of Hamas in Lebanon, Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin, in Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military said Sherif “was responsible for coordinating terrorist activities of Hamas in Lebanon with Hezbollah members”.

Another Israeli attack on the central Beirut neighborhood of Kola early Monday morning killed three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Palestinian armed group said in a statement.

The statement named the dead as military security chief Mohammad Abdel-Aal, military commander Imad Odeh and fighter Abdel Rahman Abdel-Aal.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) communications director in Lebanon, Jinane Saad, told the BBC that “we really don’t know where is safe or not” after the attack in the Kola neighborhood.

“What is safe today may not be safe in an hour or tomorrow,” she said.

Israeli aircraft also attacked the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah in Yemen on Sunday, causing a massive explosion.

Previously sporadic cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated on October 8, 2023 – the day after an unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip – when Hezbollah fired on Israel’s position to show solidarity with the Palestinians.

However, things have escalated significantly in recent weeks.

Hezbollah has suffered mass casualties from exploding pagers and radios, a wave of assassinations of Hezbollah military commanders, devastating airstrikes that have killed civilians – and the use of explosives. bunker in Beirut, killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday.

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