Israeli special forces 'cross border into Lebanon and begin targeted raids ahead of possible ground invasion'
30 September 2024, 11:57 | Updated: 30 September 2024, 12:11
Israeli special forces have begun covert raids in Lebanon as tanks mass on the border ahead of a possible ground invasion.
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Elite Israeli troops are understood to have begun sabotage missions, targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, weapons sites and command centres. Israel wants to push Hezbollah away from the border.
The Wall Street Journal reports Israeli special forces have been carrying out 'small, targeted raids into southern Lebanon, gathering intelligence and probing ahead of a possible broader ground incursion.'
An Israeli official told The Telegraph: “They are targeting key sites which have been built across the border zone.”
The special forces operations include scouting out Hezbollah's tunnel network along the country's border, according to reports.
NBC News said that ‘small forces operations’ had been launched into southern Lebanon with the aim of gathering intelligence and scouting Hezbollah positions.
Meanwhile Hezbollah’s deputy leader has said the militant group is ready for a fight with Israel.
Sheikh Naim Qassem delivered an address saying that the group’s operations will continue and they are braced for ‘patience’ and the possibility of a long conflict.
Israel hit an apartment building in central Beirut with an airstrike.
A residential neighbourhood that houses predominantly Sunni Muslims was hit early on Monday morning, according to the Associated Press.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials. The Israel Defence Force has previously stated it carried out another targeted strike on Beirut but did not immediately provide details.
The airstrike killed at least one person and wounded 16, said an official with Lebanese Civil Defense, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He said the person killed was a member of the al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, or the Islamic Group, a Sunni political and militant group that is allied with Hezbollah.
A Palestinian leftist faction in Lebanon said three of its members were killed in the airstrike.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said in a statement early Monday that its military and security commanders in Lebanon, and a third member were killed in the attack.
On Sunday, the Lebanese health ministry documented at least 105 killed across the country in airstrikes.
They said two attacks hit near the southern city of Sidon, about 28 miles south of Beirut, killing at least 32.
Separately, Israeli attacks in the northern province of Baalbek Hermel killed a further 21 and injured at least 47.
