An Israeli army tank being transported on a truck, near the border with Lebanon, on March 31, 2026. (Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP)
BEIRUT — The Israeli army announced Tuesday that its 98th Division, a paratrooper division, has joined the ground invasion into southern Lebanon and has deployed "up to an advanced ... line," without stating which area specifically of the border regions.
The 98th Division had already been involved in the Israeli ground invasion during the 2024 war on Lebanon. Initially attached to Israel's central command, it is considered a tactical, highly mobile division and includes six brigades: three paratrooper brigades, one commando, one artillery, and one logistics. Five divisions are now deployed in southern Lebanon: the 98th, 146th, and 162nd in the western sector, and the 91st and 36th in the eastern sector.
In a statement on X, the Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, affirmed that the 98th Division is now active in southern Lebanon and that the army has "completed its deployment on the 'anti-tank line.'" According to Adraee, the 98th Division has operated over the past week from positions already captured by the Israeli army "in order to sweep the area." Anti-tank missiles have an estimated range of about ten kilometers.
This information was published as, according to Israeli military sources cited in Haaretz, the Israeli army does not intend to advance more deeply into Lebanese territory and seeks to maintain a limited ground presence, despite far more extreme statements issued by the Israeli government that allude to the contrary.
This "limitation" is reportedly tied to fears of increasing dependence on reservists, "forces already heavily committed on several fronts," according to the Israeli newspaper. "The most ambitious plan [before the war] envisaged a 'large and decisive campaign against Hezbollah,' but a more limited option, the one currently being implemented, was ultimately chosen," report Israeli military sources quoted by the daily. Under the current plan, the forces focus on strikes targeting Hezbollah's infrastructure and members. Haaretz nevertheless notes a gap between the army's assessments and Netanyahu's government statements regarding the campaign's objectives. Officers from the Northern Command emphasize that this gap "erodes public confidence."
The Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot reports that the army is expected to present "an operational plan to control the first line of [Lebanese] villages as a deep security zone" to the government in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah continues to claim attacks on Israeli military positions in various regions it has occupied across the South.
These announcements and press reports have been published as Hezbollah continues to claim attacks on Israeli positions all along the border sector, notably in Taybeh and Markaba in the eastern sector, Bayada in the west, south of Sour, and in Beit Lif and Ainata in the Bint Jbeil district in the central sector. Hezbollah also announced it targeted "two Israeli helicopters with surface-to-air missiles in the sky over Bayada."
