JERUSALEM/BEIRUT: The Israeli military said today regular infantry and armoured units were joining its ground operations in Lebanon, stepping up pressure on foe Hizbollah, as it prepared to retaliate against Iranian missile strikes.

Already battling Hamas in Gaza, Israel is beefing up its presence in south Lebanon in its conflict with Hizbollah a day after it was attacked by Iran, raising fears the oil-producing Middle East could be engulfed in a wider conflict.

Iran said today the attack — its biggest assault on Israel — was over barring further provocation, but Israel and the United States promised to hit back.

The violence continued on the Israeli-Lebanese border today.

Israel's addition of infantry and armoured troops from the 36th Division, including the Golani Brigade, the 188th Armoured Brigade and 6th Infantry Brigade, suggests that the operation may move beyond limited commando raids.

The military has said its ground operation is largely aimed at destroying tunnels and other infrastructure on the border and there were no plans for a wider operation targeting Beirut or major cities in southern Lebanon.

It issued new evacuation orders for around two dozen towns along the southern border.

Hizbollah said today it was clashing with Israeli troops in the border town of Maroun el-Ras after

it had pushed back troops near another border town. The group said it had also fired rockets

at military posts inside Israel. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Israel renewed its bombardment early today of Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of the Iran-backed group, with more than a dozen airstrikes against what it said were targets belonging to Hizbollah.

Lebanon's telecommunications minister Johnny Corm said on X that a cellular transmission tower had been destroyed.

Despite calls for a ceasefire from the United Nations, the US and the European Union, fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hizbollah has continued.

Iran's state news agency said three Israeli military bases had been targeted.

Ibrahim Jafari, an adviser to the General Commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, said a cyber operation was launched along with the missile strikes which reached their targets.

The general staff of Iran's armed forces said any Israeli response would be met with "vast destruction" of the latter's infrastructure.

Iran's foreign minister said the assault was over unless Israel decided to retaliate — in which case, it would respond even more forcefully. The latest strikes caused minimal damage. One Palestinian was killed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to strike back, saying there is nowhere in the Islamic Republic that his country can't reach. US news website Axios reported that a retaliation within days could target oil production facilities inside Iran and other strategic sites.

On social media, Iranians were apprehensive about Israeli retaliation and said past wars, such as the eight-year conflict with Iraq in the 1980s that killed about a million people, would only bring more suffering. 

 - Reuters