BEIRUT — Israel said its troops had launched raids inside Lebanon on Tuesday, starting its ground operations after two weeks of devastating airstrikes against Hezbollah's command structure and weapons sites.

The Israeli military said the operations in Lebanon began on Monday night and involved paratroops and commandos from the 98th Division, which was deployed to the northern front two weeks ago from Gaza where they had been fighting for months.

It said its air force and artillery supported ground troops engaged in "limited, localized, and targeted ground raids" against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon villages that posed "an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel".

In the past 24 hours, at least 95 people have been killed and 172 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon's southern regions, the eastern Bekaa Valley, and Beirut, Lebanon's health ministry said early on Tuesday.

However, Hezbollah denied that Israeli troops have entered Lebanon but says its fighters are ready for a "direct confrontation" if they cross the border.

In a statement, Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif said reports that Israeli forces had entered Lebanon were "false claims."

Earlier on Tuesday, Hezbollah said it had targeted Israeli troops across the border in Metula town twice with artillery and rocket fire.

In central Israel, air raid sirens sounded on Tuesday and an AFP journalist heard explosions in the city of Tel Aviv, with the military saying projectiles had been fired from Lebanon.

Police said one projectile hit a road near the central town of Kafr Qasim, wounding a man who was struck by shrapnel and treated by emergency services.

The Israeli military on Tuesday announced tighter restrictions on public gatherings across the country, limiting the number of people that can gather outside ahead of the Jewish new year.

The operation into Lebanon represents an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

Intensified attacks

In Syria, three civilians were killed and nine others injured in an Israeli airstrike on the capital Damascus, Syrian state media said on Tuesday citing a military source. Israel's military said it does not comment on foreign media reports.

Israel's claim of ground invasion into Lebanon follows its deadly detonation of booby-trapped Hezbollah pagers, two weeks of airstrikes, and its killing on Friday of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, which dealt the group one of the heaviest blows in decades.

The intensive airstrikes have eliminated several Hezbollah commanders but also killed about 1,000 civilians and forced 1 million to flee their homes, according to the Lebanese government.

The White House and the US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Israel's ground operations in Lebanon. Meanwhile, the office of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Gallant had briefed about the operations to his US counterpart Lloyd Austin.

Israel last week rejected a proposal by the US and France, calling for a 21-day cease-fire on the Lebanon border to give time for a diplomatic settlement.

Some countries have decided to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon due to considerations of the deteriorating situation.

Britain said on Monday it had chartered a commercial flight for its nationals wishing to evacuate Lebanon.

Germany on Monday flew out its Beirut embassy's nonessential staff members, their dependents and some of its citizens in Lebanon with medical conditions, officials said.

Canada also announced that it has reserved 800 seats on commercial flights to evacuate its citizens from Lebanon.

Sixty-nine Chinese citizens and 11 foreign family members in Lebanon safely arrived in Cyprus on Tuesday, according to the Department of Consular Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Their safe exit was organized by the Chinese government.

Agencies via Xinhua