Does anything ever change in the Middle East? After enduring weeks of Hezbollah rocket attacks amid an ongoing aerial war with Iran, Israeli ground forces advanced into Lebanon Monday to destroy the terror group’s forward positions. Longtime readers may be forgiven their sense of déjà vu, since this exact same scenario really did occur on September 30, 2024.

The latest round of combat began on March 2, 2026, when Hezbollah predictably broke a November 2024 ceasefire and resumed launching rockets at Israel, two days after the U.S. and Israel launched a combined bombardment against Hezbollah’s state sponsor, Iran.

According to the IDF, Hezbollah has launched around 100 rockets per day at Israel since March 2, as well as a total of more than 100 drones. The terror group usually aims its rockets at civilian communities, not military installations.

Despite sustaining significant military losses against a foe with superior armaments, Hezbollah remains incorrigible. On Friday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem boasted that Israeli threats to assassinate him were “worthless,” as the terrorists “have prepared ourselves for a long confrontation, and they will be surprised in the field.”

Despite the Lebanese government officially banning Hezbollah military activities on March 2, their attacks continued, leaving Israel no other option but an eventual ground incursion. Israel had already reinforced five positions it had maintained in southern Lebanon when Hezbollah first resumed its attacks. Last week, it redeployed an entire infantry brigade north from the Gaza theater.

“IDF troops have begun limited and targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon,” the IDF announced early Monday. “This activity is part of broader defensive efforts to establish and strengthen a forward defensive posture, which includes the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists operating in the area, to create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel.”

The Israeli military was understandably coy about describing the nature of its troop movements, with spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani telling reporters merely that soldiers were in “new locations that our troops were not operating [in] yesterday.” However, Lebanese officials told Reuters that Israeli troops had encircled the eastern town of Khiyam, located northwest of the Golan Heights and east of the Litani River.

Before the ground incursion, the IDF on Friday struck the Zrarieh Bridge across the Litani River saying that Hezbollah militants had used the bridge to cross into southern Lebanon and had also launched rockets at Israel from launchers positioned nearby. Zrarieh was the only bridge across the Litani River between the coastal highways and a highway running through central Lebanon (a 10-mile gap), and disabling it would restrict traffic across the river to major roads, which are easier to monitor.

Striking the Zrarieh Bridge was a significant escalation in the campaign, as Israel usually avoids targeting civilian infrastructure (in contrast to its adversaries). But Israel appears determined to pressure the Lebanese government into upholding its agreements to suppress Hezbollah terrorist activities by making the beleaguered nation feel the pain of war.

“The Lebanese government … will pay increasing costs through damage to infrastructure and loss of territory,” insisted Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. Last week, Israeli aircraft dropped flyers over Beirut promising to treat Lebanon the way it treated Gaza — that is, by turning every terrorist hideout (which, by implication, means every building) into rubble until the terrorists have nowhere left to hide.

Katz also warned on Monday that residents displaced from southern Lebanon due to the war will not be able to return home until Israel could ensure the safety of its own northern residents. “Hundreds of thousands of Shi’ite residents of southern Lebanon who have evacuated or are evacuating their homes in southern Lebanon and Beirut will not return to areas south of the Litani line until the safety ?of northern residents is ensured,” he declared.

Reuters reports that at least 800,000 Lebanese people have been displaced by the war, or approximately one out of every seven people. “No matter how many shelters are opened in Beirut, they cannot accommodate all ?the displaced,” said Lebanon’s Interior Minister Ahmad Al-Hajjar, and many people are sleeping on streets or in parks.

These pressures are forcing the government in Beirut to face the consequences of leaving the menace of Hezbollah unaddressed for so long, and they are calculated to motivate the government to eject the terrorist group once and for all.

Israeli officials anticipated Sunday that ceasefire talks with Lebanon would happen soon, although Lebanese officials seemed less confident that negotiations would take place amid Israel’s offensive.

Yet there are positive signs. On Saturday, Axios reported that a new peace proposal from a surprising player has the potential to establish constructive dialogue between Israel and Lebanon. The French government has drafted a proposal to normalize relations between the two countries for the first time since Israel’s independence.

With supervision from the U.S. (in Israel’s corner) and France (in Lebanon’s), the proposal would have the two parties negotiate a “political declaration” within one month that would include Lebanon’s recognition of Israel, its sovereignty, and its territorial integrity, a recommitment by both sides to previous ceasefire agreements, and Lebanese commitment to a plan to disarm and ban Hezbollah.

By the end of two months, the agreement stipulates that the two countries would sign a non-aggression agreement, whereby the Lebanese army would reoccupy territory south of the Litani River, and a U.N.-backed coalition would ensure Hezbollah’s disarmament. After the agreement is signed, Israeli forces would withdraw from all positions in Lebanon that they currently occupy.

There are major questions over the agreement, notably the accelerated time frame and optimistic assumptions about disarming Hezbollah. But Lebanon has agreed to the plan at least as a starting point for peace talks, and the U.S. and Israel are still reviewing the proposal.

In the meantime, Israel must still deal with the situation on the ground, which is that Iran’s terrorist ally continues to fire rockets at Israeli civilians. And Israel is determined to put a stop to that at all costs.