By Alexander Cornwell and Maya Gebeily
TEL AVIV/BEIRUT, March 16 (Reuters) - Israel on Monday warned that displaced Lebanese driven from their homes by its military campaign would not be able to return until the safety of Israelis living near the border was ensured, as Israeli troops pushed into new parts of southern Lebanon.
In a briefing, Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters that soldiers were now conducting ground operations in "new locations", describing
the latest offensive as "limited and targeted".
The extended operation began days after Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military had been ordered to expand its campaign. He later warned that the country could face territorial losses and damage to its infrastructure unless Hezbollah was disarmed.
Israel's military, which has occupied five positions in southern Lebanon since a November 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah, sent additional forces into the country after Hezbollah fired a salvo of rockets on March 2, dragging Lebanon into an expanding regional war.
Hezbollah, a Shi'ite Muslim group, said its attack was in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader on February 28, the first day of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Israel has responded with an intensive bombing campaign on Lebanon.
Visiting troops near the border, Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir said the strikes on Iran were affecting Hezbollah's ability to arm and fund itself. He said more than 400 of the group's fighters have been killed since March 2.
"Over the past two weeks, we launched a limited, targeted ground operation in southern Lebanon with the objective of pushing the threat away from the border and ensuring long-term security for the residents of northern Israel," Zamir said.
Hezbollah rarely discloses its casualty figures.
More than 880 people in Lebanon have been killed by Israeli attacks, according to Lebanon's health ministry, whose figures do not distinguish between fighters and civilians. More than 1 million people have been driven from their homes, many from the south as well as from areas near the capital, Beirut, and more than 130,000 are living in collective shelters, according to Lebanese authorities. Last week the United Nations launched a $308 million appeal to help Lebanon cope with the fallout of the war.
COMPARISON WITH GAZA
The military has framed the ground offensive, launched after March 2, as a defensive effort to protect northern Israel from Hezbollah attacks, which it says have averaged at least 100 rockets and drones a day and have reached as far as central Israel.
On Monday, Katz linked the return of displaced Lebanese residents to the safety of Israelis living near the border.
"Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite residents of southern Lebanon who have evacuated or are evacuating their homes in southern Lebanon and Beirut will not return to areas south of the Litani line until the safety of northern residents is ensured," he said in a statement.
He said the military had been instructed to destroy "terrorist infrastructure" in villages in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel, drawing a comparison to operations in cities in the Gaza Strip that were largely destroyed by Israeli forces.
Katz also suggested that Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem, could face a fate similar to that of his predecessor, and to Iran's supreme leader, both of whom were killed in Israeli strikes. Qassem said last week threats against his life were “worthless.”
ISRAELI TROOPS ADVANCE WEST
Over the weekend, Israeli troops encircled the key southern Lebanese town of Khiyam and were advancing west toward the Litani River, a move that could leave large swathes of southern Lebanon under Israeli control, Lebanese security sources told Reuters.
Israeli troops battled Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon throughout the day on Monday, and advanced towards Bint Jbeil, a Lebanese village and Hezbollah stronghold located about 4 km from the border with Israel, the sources said.
Two Israeli officials said on Sunday that Israel and Lebanon were expected to hold talks in the coming days aimed at securing a durable ceasefire which would see Hezbollah disarmed.
A Lebanese source familiar with the matter said it didn't seem talks with Israel would be taking place soon, though they would happen eventually.
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told reporters that a "few players were trying to mediate and host talks", adding: "I believe the next step will be talks but first we have to degrade the capability of Hezbollah."
Under the November 2024 ceasefire, Hezbollah was to pull back from southern Lebanon as the Lebanese military took over.
Israel said Lebanon never upheld its part of the deal, continuing near-daily air strikes against what it said were Hezbollah positions and weapons.
(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Tel Aviv & Maya Gebeily in Beirut, additional reporting by Tom Perry in Beirut, Jana Choukeir in Dubai & Katharine Jackson in Washington ; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
