The Israeli military said regular infantry and armoured units were joining its ground operations in Lebanon, a day after Israel was attacked by Iran in a strike that raised fears the oil-producing Middle East could be engulfed in a wider conflict.
An Israeli team commander was killed in Lebanon, the Israeli military said. A Lebanese soldier was injured in an Israeli drone strike on southern Lebanon, the Lebanese army said in a statement.
Iran said on Wednesday the attack - its biggest assault on Israel - was over barring further provocation, but Israel and the United States promised to hit back.
More than a dozen Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut where Hezbollah targets were said to be located. (AP PHOTO)
The violence, meanwhile, continued on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Hezbollah said it was clashing with Israeli troops in the border town of Maroun el-Ras after it had pushed back forces near another border town. The group said it had also fired rockets at military posts inside Israel.
The group's media chief Mohammad Afif said those battles were only "the first round" and the group had enough fighters, weapons and ammunition to push back Israel.
Israel's military has said its incursion 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.
Nevertheless it issued new evacuation orders for around two dozen towns along the southern border, instructing inhabitants to head north of the Awali River, which flows east to west some 60km north of the Israeli border.
Despite calls for a ceasefire from the United Nations, the United States and the European Union, fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah has continued.
Israel renewed its bombardment early on Wednesday 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 Hezbollah.
Israel authorities said most of Iran's missiles were intercepted by its air defences system. (AP PHOTO)
Almost 1900 people have been killed and more than 9000 wounded in Lebanon in almost a year of cross-border fighting, with the most in the past two weeks, according to Lebanese government statistics. More than a million people have been forced to flee their homes.
The Islamic Republic described Tuesday's assault as a response to Israeli killings of militant leaders, including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, and attacks in Lebanon against the group and in Gaza.
Like a similar attack in April, the latest strikes caused minimal damage. One Palestinian was killed.
The general staff of Iran's armed forces said any Israeli response would be met with "vast destruction" of the latter's infrastructure.
US news website Axios reported that a retaliation within days that could target oil production facilities inside Iran and other strategic sites.
Israel's foreign minister said that he was barring UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering the country because he had not "unequivocally" condemned Iran's missile attack on Israel.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will host a call of Group of Seven leaders later on Wednesday to discuss the crisis in the Middle East, her office said.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was meeting with security chiefs at the Defence Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Airlines around the world have cancelled flights to Israel and Lebanon in the wake of the escalating conflict, with many saying they won't resume until at least mid-October, depending on the security situation.
China called on global powers to play a constructive role to avoid escalation, while Saudi Arabia is hoping for de-escalation and dialogue, Economy Minister Faisal al-Ibrahim said.
Washington said it would work with longtime ally Israel to ensure Iran faced "severe consequences" for Tuesday's attack, which Israel said involved more than 180 ballistic missiles.
Israel activated air defences against Iran's bombardment on Tuesday and most missiles were intercepted "by Israel and a defensive coalition led by the United States", Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video on social media platform X.
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