TEL AVIV, March 16. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will act in the same manner in southern Lebanon as it did in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said.

Commenting on the start of the ground operation against Hezbollah military units during a meeting with military brass, he said: "The prime minister and I gave instructions to the Israel Defense Forces to destroy terrorist infrastructure in Lebanese border settlements just as was done against [Palestine’s radical movement] Hamas in Rafah, Beit Hanoun and the terror tunnels in Gaza."

Overnight into March 2, the north of Israel came under a shelling attack from Lebanese territory. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it had launched rockets on Israeli territory in response to the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Following Hezbollah’s rocket attack, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) began to deliver massive air strikes on Lebanese territory. Later, Chief of the Israeli General Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir announced an "offensive campaign" against the Shia group Hezbollah that he said could be days-long.

On March 9, the IDF began "a targeted and limited raid" in southern Lebanon to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure. On March 16, the IDF said. On March 16, the IDF announced that it had begun limited ground operations in Lebanon’s southern regions against key Hezbollah fortifications in southern Lebanon.