Israel's military said on Tuesday it had begun ground operations in southwest Lebanon, expanding its incursions to a new zone.
The military piled more pressure on Iran-backed Hezbollah, saying it was conducting "limited, localized, targeted operations" in Lebanon's southwest after announcing such operations for the southeast border area.
The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon and the head of the UN's peacekeeping mission in the country said on Tuesday that their repeated appeals for restraint had "gone unheeded" in the year since the exchanges of fire began between Hezbollah and Israel.
"Today, one year later, the near-daily exchanges of fire have escalated into a relentless military campaign whose humanitarian impact is nothing short of catastrophic," they said in a joint statement.
The Israeli military has described its ground operation in Lebanon as localized and limited, but it has steadily increased in scale beginning last week.
The army says its aim is to clear border areas where Hezbollah fighters have been embedded, with no plans to go deep into Lebanon.
