The Israeli military announced in the early hours of Tuesday morning local time it had launched a “targeted and limited” incursion into the south of Lebanon, yet the scope of such an operation could stretch from operating in the villages situated close to the border, up to crossing the Litani River to destroy Hezbollah missile launchers and missile production means hidden in central Lebanon. 

The Blue Line, established by the United Nations in 2000, demarcates the temporary border between Israel and Lebanon. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted after the 2006 Second Lebanon War, calls for Hezbollah to retreat behind the Litani River, which runs nearly parallel to the Blue Line. For the most part, the river runs approximately 30 kilometers from the border, but there is also a segment that is much closer to Israel, only a few kilometers away.

The Israeli cabinet keeps under wraps for the moment the exact end goal of the current incursion, the first ground invasion of Lebanon since 2006. On Sept. 17, the security cabinet updated its list of war objectives to include the safe return of residents evacuated from their homes near Israel's northern border with Lebanon because of months of fighting with Hezbollah. Since then, the military has presented the political echelon with several operational options, while intensifying its bombardments on Hezbollah targets, not only in the south of Lebanon, but also in Beirut and at crossing points between Syria and Lebanon.

Clearing the border area of Hezbollah presence