The US State Department said on Monday that Israel has already launched ground incursions against infrastructure of the Shiite party-militia Hezbollah near the border between Lebanon and Israel.
“That is our understanding,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, when asked at a press conference whether Israel had begun ground operations.
“We have been informed that they are currently carrying out limited operations against Hezbollah infrastructure near the border,” he said.
On Monday, the Israeli Armed Forces declared an area of the border with Lebanon a “closed military zone”, prohibiting access to civilian personnel. The area includes the municipalities of Metula, Misgav Am and Kfar Giladi, very close to an area on the Lebanese side of the border subjected to intense artillery bombardment during the day.
The information has been released amid speculation of an imminent entry of Israeli ground forces into Lebanese territory and as the Israeli government’s security cabinet is meeting at the Armed Forces headquarters in Tel Aviv, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel has stepped up its bombing of Lebanon since mid-September and has killed a large part of the leadership of the Hezbollah party-militia, including its secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed last Friday in a bombing in Beirut.
