Israel sent troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday and warned residents of more than 80 villages to evacuate as the Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group said it was ready for an "open war" with Israel in the wake of the U.

Israel has ordered residents of dozens of villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate as airstrikes around Beirut intensify and Hezbollah reports more attacks.

As Israel intensifies its campaign against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia, Lebanon is now teetering on the brink of being fully sucked into the escalating US and Israeli war on Iran – a fate the fragile Lebanese government has been desperate to avoid.

Israeli forces entered the southern Lebanese town of Khiam, about 6 kilometres from the Israeli border, on Wednesday amid heavy artillery shelling and intensified airstrikes across southern Lebanon,

Israel has sent troops into southern Lebanon and told residents of more than 80 villages to evacuate as the Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group said it was ready for an “open war” with Israel in the wake of the U.

The leader of the Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah vowed Wednesday to keep up its fight against Israel, whose forces pushed into several border towns

Israel said it deployed more forces in Lebanon to protect its people, but its military chief said the goal is more ambitious: to disarm Hezbollah. Israel made plans for the incursion well in advance.

Israel has ordered residents of dozens of villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate as airstrikes around Beirut intensify and Hezbollah reports more attacks.

Explosions sounded in Tehran Wednesday as the war between the US, Israel and Iran entered a fifth day following earlier strikes on Iran and retaliatory strikes by the Islamic Republic across the Gulf