Tanks and jets on the move at Israel-Lebanon border

Here on the Israeli side of the border, tanks and aircraft have been on the move, as the ground war that Israel and Hezbollah had avoided for almost two decades began.

Fields a few miles from the border that yesterday were full of dozens of tanks, are emptying – almost the entire fighting force there has gone, and a column of armoured vehicles were preparing to move out.

On Sunday night, helicopters and jets flew low across this border, to the regular “crump” of artillery and occasional loud explosions.

Hezbollah says it fired rockets at Israeli troops this morning along the border at Metula and Avivim, and there were also several loud interceptions directly above us, a little further south.

At an army checkpoint outside Metula, Israeli artillery was still firing this morning as a group of soldiers waited to go in.

Israel’s army says its ground forces crossed the border last night in a “limited and targeted” incursion, but it’s not immediately clear how many units have been sent in, and where.

A senior security official said today that the operations were “very limited in scope” and said there were currently “no clashes”.

When asked how far into Lebanon the Israeli forces had gone, he declined to be specific but said they were “very close, walking distance – not far in”, and that the numbers involved were not those of a large ground invasion, but something more limited.

Israel says its aim is to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure along the border that it says poses an imminent threat to Israeli communities.

But sending ground troops even a short distance into Lebanon carries significant risks to its army.

Hezbollah – well armed with anti-tank missiles and mines – has been preparing to meet Israeli forces on this terrain for years.

What’s not clear is how far Israel is preparing to push forward into Lebanese territory, whether its aim is to remove the threat of infiltration from Hezbollah fighters and tunnels, or whether it is planning to push the group further north – a much bigger and riskier undertaking for Israeli army.