But earlier, Israeli forces had crossed the red line of the Middle East conflict by entering Lebanon to carry out “targeted ground raids” and uproot Iran-backed Hezbollah positions. Israel assured that the assaults would be “limited and localized,” but the tit-for-tat exchange of fire with Hamas-ally Hezbollah since Hamas’s attack on Israel could spread to a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon for the first time since 2006.