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Israel Initiating Ground Operations Against Hezbollah in Lebanon, US State Department Says
Israeli troops on the ground in Gaza. Photo: IDF via Reuters
Israel has told the United States that it is “currently conducting” limited ground operations against Hezbollah targets inside neighboring Lebanon, the US State Department said on Monday.
“This is what they have informed us that they are currently conducting, which are limited operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure near the border,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.
When asked to confirm they were limited ground operations, Miller responded, “That is our understanding.”
Miller’s comments came amid growing speculation that the Jewish state has greenlighted a new phase in its goal to debilitate the Hezbollah terrorist group’s military capabilities. The newly announced military ground operations also came on the heels of Israel’s successful elimination of several high-profile Hezbollah members, including leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday.
“No. 1, Israel has a right to defend itself against Hezbollah. If you look at how this conflict across Israel’s northern border started, it was Hezbollah that started launching attacks on Israel on Oct. 8th, and those attacks continued, and have continued and are continuing,” Miller said. “If you look at what the acting leader of Hezbollah said just today, it’s that their attacks on Israel will continue, so Israel has a right to defend itself against those attacks. That includes targeting terrorist infrastructure inside Lebanon.”
Miller also reaffirmed that the US remains committed to securing a ceasefire deal. He added that active and vigorous military operations can help advance diplomatic goals between adversarial parties. However, he warned that overzealous or imprudent military actions can have unexpected consequences and lead to escalation, hurting diplomatic discussions.
Miller rebuffed the notion that achieving a ceasefire would require Israel compromising its own security priorities.
“I think sometimes people either misinterpret or have their own version of what a ceasefire is. A ceasefire is not one side in a conflict unilaterally putting down its arms and stopping the conflict; it is an agreement for both sides to stop the conflict,” Miller said.
Earlier this month, Israel officially expanded its military goals to include returning displaced Israelis from the north back to their homes after they were forced to flee amid unrelenting fire from the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon.
On Oct. 8, one day after Hamas’s slaughter of roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel, Hezbollah began pummeling northern Israeli communities almost daily with barrages of drones, rockets, and missiles from southern Lebanon, where it wields significant political and military influence. One such attack killed 12 children in the small Druze town of Majdal Shams.
About 80,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate Israel’s north during that time due to the unrelenting attacks. Most of them have spent the past year living in hotels in other areas of the country.
Israel began a blistering campaign against Hezbollah two weeks ago, launching a wave of airstrikes that have crippled the Iran-backed terrorist group’s leadership. Many observes believe Israel wants to establish a demilitarized buffer zone between the Jewish state and Lebanon, aiming to decrease violence from non-state actors such as Hezbollah.
Israel is widely believed to be behind the recent explosions of communications devices used by Hezbollah terrorists, although the Jewish state has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Israeli special forces have been carrying out small, targeted raids into southern Lebanon to gather intelligence ahead of an expected broader ground incursion.
The post Israel Initiating Ground Operations Against Hezbollah in Lebanon, US State Department Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.