Transcript of Israeli troops begin ground operations in southern Lebanon | Israel-Hezbollah conflict

From Israel's side of the border, the unmistakable signs that its forces are back inside Lebanon. The military says what it calls limited, localized, and targeted raids have begun.

Since we've been here, you can just hear that now, we have heard the steady beat of outgoing artillery fire, rocket fire. Then every now and again, you can see that Lebanon is far behind me, over the hills in the distance, but you can see the orange flash of the impacts.

More troops have been massing in Northern Israel over the past few days. But a decision to push across the border is a dramatic escalation in their fight with Hezbollah, almost two decades since the last Lebanon war. Earlier, the defense minister met with soldiers. He told them they had to stop Hezbollah from firing rockets into the north so tens of thousands of Israeli civilians can return home.

This is your mission. We will employ all that is needed, your forces, other forces, from the air, from the sea, and also from the land.

The land attack follows days of punishing airstrikes across Lebanon, including the capital, Beirut. The targets have been Hezbollah commanders right up to its leader. But they've also devastated targeted whole communities, with many people dead and wounded, and hundreds of thousands forced to flee. For Israel, though, it feels it has no choice as it fights on multiple fronts against groups across the region, all aligned with Iran. The Prime Minister even hinting his country's arch foe could be next in a message that he addressed to the Iranian people.

There is nowhere in the Middle East, Israel cannot reach. There is nowhere we will not go to protect our people and protect our country. With every passing moment, the regime is bringing you, the noble Persian people, closer to the abyss.

But as Israel pounds its enemies, its allies are growing increasingly alarmed at the potential for the whole region to descend into all-out war. Deborah Deborah Haynes, Sky News, near Israel's border with Lebanon.