Israel sends thousands more troops to Lebanon as it prepares to expand ground operations

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Israel deployed thousands more troops across its border in Lebanon as it signalled it was preparing to expand its ground offensive against Hizbollah to the south-west of the country.

The Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday it had sent a fourth combat division into the south of Lebanon, where its forces have been battling the militant group since invading last week.

The announcement indicates that Israel may now have at least 20,000 troops fighting in Lebanon, since the divisions are unlikely to be deployed at the maximum estimated size of roughly 10,000 apiece. The Israeli military refuses to provide official figures on its force numbers.

It came as the IDF issued evacuation orders to more than two dozen villages in Lebanon’s south-west.

In an indication of possible maritime operations against Hizbollah, the IDF also gave “urgent warnings” in Arabic to beachgoers and boats along the Lebanese coast up to the Awali river, north of the city of Sidon.

“For your safety, refrain from being in the sea or on the beach from now until further notice,” Avichay Adraee, the IDF Arabic spokesperson, wrote on social media platform X.

Israeli warplanes had previously pummelled targets in Beirut and eastern and southern Lebanon overnight. Hizbollah said its fighters had fired several rocket salvos across the border into Israel.

The Iran-backed Lebanese group initiated fire against Israel after Hamas’s October 7 assault on southern Israel last year in “solidarity” with the Gaza-based militants, raising fears of a wider regional conflict.

Those concerns have reached new heights after Iran bombarded Israel with around 180 missiles last week, leading Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to vow retaliation.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said in a speech to foreign diplomats and Iranian officials in Tehran on Tuesday that any Israeli attack on Iran’s infrastructure would “be answered with a stronger response, and they have already witnessed the precision and power of our missiles”.

Ahead of a tour of Gulf states that will begin with Saudi Arabia he added: “We are prepared for all scenarios, and our armed forces are fully ready . . . However, our priority is to [help] de-escalate tensions and achieve an acceptable ceasefire agreement [for Gaza and Lebanon].”

In a further move on Tuesday that indicated a possible expansion of military action, the IDF declared four villages next to the Lebanese border in north-western Israel as closed military zones.

Israel took similar steps in the eastern and central regions of its frontier with Lebanon over the past two weeks, before the launch of ground incursions.

About 60,000 Israelis living in the north have been forced to relocate because of Hizbollah projectiles. Netanyahu has said the offensive against Lebanon is aimed at securing the border area to permit their return.

The Lebanese government has said 1.2mn people have been displaced, most of them in the past two weeks. The displaced are predominantly Shia Muslims from southern Lebanon and Beirut’s suburbs of Dahiyeh, where Hizbollah’s headquarters were located.

Dahiyeh has been the target of intense daily bombardment by Israel over the past two weeks, including a huge strike that killed Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbollah’s leader, and many of the group’s top commanders.

On Monday, as Israel marked the first anniversary of the October 7 attack that triggered the war in Gaza, Hizbollah shot about 135 rockets at Israel’s north, according to Israel’s military, and later fired projectiles at central Israel.