Israeli forces launched ground operations in southern Lebanon on Monday, pushing into new positions around the strategic hilltop town of Khiam and advancing westward in what Israeli and American officials have described as the opening phase of a far larger planned offensive aimed at seizing the entire territory south of the Litani River and dismantling Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in what would be the largest Israeli ground operation in Lebanon since 2006.
Israel is planning to significantly expand its ground operation in Lebanon, aiming to seize the entire area south of the Litani River and dismantle Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, Israeli and US officials told Axios.
“We are going to do what we did in Gaza,” a senior Israeli official said, referring to the systematic destruction of buildings and tunnel networks that Hezbollah has used to store weapons and conduct operations. “Before this attack, we were ready for a ceasefire in Lebanon, but after it, there is no way back from a massive operation,” a senior Israeli official said.
Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters on Monday that soldiers were in “new locations that our troops were not operating yesterday.” He described the operations as “limited and targeted” and declined to specify the depth of the advance or whether troops would consolidate new permanent positions. The gap between the spokesperson’s measured public language and the expansive operational planning described by Israeli and American officials to Axios reflects an ongoing internal tension in the Israeli military’s public messaging on Lebanon, which consistently characterizes each escalation as defensive and tactical even as the strategic objective has expanded.
Khiam, a Hezbollah stronghold situated on high ground approximately six kilometers from the Israeli border and the Litani River, has emerged as the focal point of the ground campaign. Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr described “a major battle under way” in and around the town, which sits at the junction of the eastern and western sectors of southern Lebanon with road access toward both the coast and the Bekaa Valley. “What Israel has been trying to do is cut the supply lines and the logistical capabilities of Hezbollah, so it’s unable to bring in more weapons and fighters to areas south of the Litani River,” Khodr said. Hezbollah said it had repelled an Israeli advance attempt on the southern outskirts of Khiam near the site of a former detention center, claiming Israeli forces were unable to advance further after intense clashes involving gunfire, artillery, and helicopter activity between approximately 12:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Monday.
IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir ordered a “broad reinforcement” of troops in the Northern Command following a fresh assessment last week, deploying forces from the standing army including the 98th Division with two brigade-level combat teams and combat engineering battalions, while reservist forces from the 252nd Division are being mobilized to swap in for units being redeployed north from Gaza.
The Litani River, which flows west and empties into the Mediterranean near Tyre, bisects southern Lebanon from east to west and serves as the geographical boundary established by UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war. Under that resolution, Hezbollah was to withdraw its armed forces north of the river, the Lebanese Armed Forces were to deploy south of it, and Israel was to withdraw from Lebanese territory. Israel’s current operations began from a baseline of five positions it had retained in southern Lebanon since the November 2024 ceasefire, which it justified as necessary pending Lebanese army deployment.
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Israeli military officials have concluded that Hezbollah’s military rehabilitation has been progressing faster than IDF disruption efforts since the 2024 ceasefire. Since that agreement, Israel conducted near-daily strikes against Hezbollah personnel and infrastructure, accusing it of rearming. In recent months, Israel’s leadership concluded that the moment presented by Hezbollah’s decision to join the Iran war offered a rare window of opportunity. “Faced with the window of opportunity created when Hezbollah chose to open a war, we have to use this moment to finish what we did not complete back then,” an Israeli military official told CNN.
The Trump administration backs the major Israeli operation to disarm Hezbollah but is pressing to limit damage to the Lebanese state. Washington asked Israel not to bomb Beirut’s international airport or other Lebanese state infrastructure during the operation. US officials said Israel agreed to spare the airport but stopped short of committing to protect other state infrastructure, with an Israeli official saying the government would consult with Washington case by case: “We feel we have full US backing for this operation.”
Lebanon’s government has been caught in an increasingly untenable position. President Joseph Aoun formally banned Hezbollah’s military activities inside Lebanese territory last week and has called for direct negotiations with Israel to achieve a final ceasefire. At the same time, Aoun has condemned Israel’s advance, accusing it of showing “no respect for the laws of war or for international laws.”
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Two Israeli officials told Reuters over the weekend that direct Israel-Lebanon talks involving US envoy Jared Kushner and Israeli negotiator Ron Dermer were expected in Paris or Cyprus in the coming days. Lebanese officials told Reuters they had not received confirmation of any scheduled meeting.
The human cost has been severe. More than 850 Lebanese have been killed since fighting resumed on March 2, including more than 100 children, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. More than 800,000 people have been displaced from their homes across the south and parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs as IDF evacuation orders have emptied villages and neighborhoods. Israel’s military has acknowledged the death of two soldiers in combat operations in southern Lebanon since the current campaign began.
Hezbollah’s leader Naim Qassem said in a second televised address Friday that his group “prepared for a long confrontation,” adding: “God willing, they will be surprised on the battlefield.” The group has been firing an average of more than 100 rockets and drones daily at northern Israel, according to Israeli military figures.
UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, reported that non-state armed groups fired upon three of its patrols on Sunday. UNIFIL has approximately 10,000 peacekeepers stationed in southern Lebanon, and previous Israeli ground operations have repeatedly brought their patrols into conflict with active military zones. No timetable for the full operation has been publicly disclosed. The next diplomatically significant moment is the expected opening of Israel-Lebanon ceasefire talks, whose status remains unconfirmed.