Israeli forces launch ground offensive in Lebanon as markets eye escalation

• Israel's Defense Forces said they had begun "limited, localized and targeted ground raised" against targets in southern Lebanon.
• The latest Israeli offensive comes after the Jewish state assassinated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27, rattling the group's command structure.
• Hezbollah and Israel have been trading cross-border fire since last year.

Israel has launched a ground incursion into Lebanese territory, with markets once more on edge over the conflict between the Jewish state and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.

In a statement early on Tuesday, Israel's Defense Forces said they had begun "limited, localized and targeted ground raised" against targets in southern Lebanon that they say pose an "immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel." The Israeli air and artillery forces are supporting the offensive, the IDF said.

The ground incursion marks a shift in the Jewish state's military attention away from the Gaza Strip, where it has been carrying out a retaliatory campaign in response to Oct. 7 terror attack carried out by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, meanwhile, have been trading cross-border fire since last year, when the Lebanese group declared solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

The Israeli offensive in Lebanon comes after the Jewish state assassinated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27, rattling the group's command structure, and follows a devastating bombing campaign that NBC News reports has killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and displaced 1 million people to date.

As recently as last week, Western allies were urging Israel to consider a 21-day cease-fire across the Lebanon-Israel border.

In a Google-translated social