Israel boosts troops on Lebanon border, signals maritime operation

The additional Israeli forces are being added as the military expands its operations from the eastern part of the border to the west. The Israeli military said Tuesday that its 146th reserve division began operations in southwestern Lebanon against Hezbollah targets, after declaring Israeli communities near the western part of its border with Lebanon as closed military zones. Israel’s limited ground incursions along the border began in the east and have moved westward, each time adding new divisions.

The Israeli military on Tuesday said it took control of a Hezbollah compound in Maroun El Ras, a village that overlooks Israeli towns and was the site of a significant battle between Hezbollah and Israel in their last major war in 2006.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said on Sunday it was concerned by Israeli military activity next to one of the bases near Maroun El Ras, on the eastern part of the Lebanese border.

“This is an extremely dangerous development. It is unacceptable to compromise the safety of U.N. peacekeepers carrying out their Security Council-mandated tasks," the peacekeeping force said.

Israel warned Lebanese civilians Monday evening to stay away from the coastal area south of the Awali River, which is located just a little over halfway between the Israel-Lebanon border and Beirut.

“Refrain from being in the sea or on the beach from now until further notice," an Israeli military spokesman told Lebanese civilians in a social-media post.

Israel has issued wide-ranging evacuation orders for Lebanese civilians in southern Lebanon, far beyond the range of the current ground operation.

The growing operations come after weeks of heavy Israeli airstrikes, mostly in Lebanon’s south, the Beqaa valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs. More than 1,000 Lebanese have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced since Israel escalated its attacks in the country last month.

Israel’s stated war goals expanded in recent weeks beyond destroying Hamas’s military capabilities in Gaza to also include returning tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to their homes in the north.

Hezbollah began striking Israel last October, one day after the Hamas-led attacks in Israel that authorities there say killed about 1,200 people. Hezbollah has said it would stop its strikes when there is a cease-fire reached in Gaza, where more than 41,000 people have been killed, according to Palestinian health authorities, who don’t say how many were combatants.

Write to Omar Abdel-Baqui at omar.abdel-baqui@wsj.com and Dov Lieber at dov.lieber@wsj.com