Israel Sends Troops into S. Lebanon    03/04 06:12

   

   BEIRUT (AP) -- Israel sent troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday and 
warned residents of more than 80 villages to evacuate as the Iran-backed 
militant Hezbollah group said it was ready for an "open war" with Israel in the 
wake of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

   The development came after Hezbollah fired rockets and launched drones early 
Monday toward northern Israel. Israel retaliated with a wave of airstrikes that 
killed 50 people in Lebanon, including seven children as well as a Palestinian 
militant and a Hezbollah intelligence official in Beirut's southern suburbs.

   That death toll is a revised figure from an earlier one reported by the 
Health Ministry, which originally said Monday that 52 people died in the 
strikes. Lebanese Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine then on Tuesday reduced 
that number to 40, then later raised the toll to 50.

   Lebanon also said 335 people were wounded and that tens of thousands were 
displaced.

   The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday that 30,000 displaced people were 
staying in collective shelters in Lebanon, "while many others slept in their 
cars, on sides of the roads as they could not yet find safe shelter."

   Hezbollah says it has no option but to fight Israel

   Hezbollah fired two salvos of rockets toward northern Israel, the militant 
group said while Israeli airstrikes overnight damaged a building housing 
Hezbollah's television and radio stations. Beirut's southern suburbs also saw a 
series of strikes on Tuesday afternoon that came without warning. The Israeli 
military later said it targeted Hezbollah officials.

   The Israeli military's Arabic spokesman, Avichay Adraee, warned residents of 
more than 80 villages and towns in southern Lebanon to leave, adding that 
people should not return to these areas until further notice.

   A senior Hezbollah official said that after more than a year of abiding by a 
ceasefire as Israel's strikes continued on Lebanon, the group's patience has 
ended, leaving it with no option but to fight Israel. "The Zionist enemy wanted 
an open war, which it has not stopped since the ceasefire agreement," Mohamoud 
Komati said.

   "So let it be an open war," added the Hezbollah official.

   Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, 
the United States, France and Egypt on Tuesday that Hezbollah has been firing 
rockets from areas north of the Litani River. That's outside an area south of 
the river and along the border with Israel, where Lebanese troops have earlier 
said they are in full control.

   More Israeli troops enter Lebanon

   The Israeli military said Tuesday it sent additional troops into southern 
Lebanon and took new positions on several strategic points close to the border. 
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the Lebanese army was evacuating 
some of its positions along the border.

   Adraee, the Israeli spokesman, said on X that the troops' movements inside 
Lebanon are meant to bolster Israel's forward defense system and create an 
addition layer of security.

   Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the Lebanese army was 
evacuating some of its border positions.

   A Lebanese military official confirmed to The Associated Press that Israeli 
troops had moved into several areas in southern Lebanon on Tuesday and that the 
Lebanese army was "repositioning" in the area. The official spoke on condition 
of anonymity to discuss military movements.

   The U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, later 
Tuesday said its peacekeepers saw Israeli troops making forays across the 
border and then returning to Israel. Israel's army said its troops are still 
operating in Lebanon, but it wasn't clear how many soldiers remained inside 
Lebanon.

   Hezbollah began firing into Israel a day after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led 
attack on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza. After months of low-level 
fighting, a full-scale war erupted in September 2024 and Israel later launched 
a ground invasion of Lebanon.

   Israeli forces withdrew from most of southern Lebanon after a U.S.-brokered 
ceasefire halted the fighting in November 2024 but continued to occupy five 
points on the Lebanese side of the border. Israel also continued with 
near-daily strikes, primarily in southern Lebanon, saying that Hezbollah has 
been trying to rebuild its positions there.

   Lebanon's Health Ministry also said Tuesday that 397 people had been killed 
in Israeli strikes in Lebanon after the ceasefire took effect and before 
Hezbollah launched its latest attacks.

   Syrians flee across the border

   Thousands of Syrians living in Lebanon crossed back into Syria, fleeing 
Israeli strikes over the past two days.

   UNHCR said the number of people crossing from Lebanon into Syria jumped on 
Monday to 10,629 from typically between 3,900 and 4,400 a day since the holy 
Islamic month of Ramadan began in February. The vast majority were Syrian, but 
a small number of Lebanese citizens also crossed.

   Azzam Sweiri, a Syrian farm laborer working in southern Lebanon, said he saw 
streets "packed with cars and people" as he fled the bombardment.

   "It took us 10 or 12 hours just to make it 30 or 40 kilometers," he said 
after crossing in to Syria Tuesday, adding that after he left, he heard that 
the house next to the one where he lived was hit by an Israeli airstrike.