Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant briefed U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on ground operations the army launched inside south Lebanon targeting Hezbollah positions, his office said on Tuesday.

"The minister discussed the localized and targeted raids that the IDF (Israeli army) launched overnight, against Hezbollah terror targets in the border area of southern Lebanon," said the statement from the defense ministry.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said Tuesday that “a de-escalation at regional level is urgent and necessary.”

“The protection of civilians remains the priority along with guaranteeing the security of the Italian military contingent of UNIFIL present in southern Lebanon," she said in a statement.

A British government-chartered flight is due to leave Beirut on Wednesday to bring United Kingdom nationals out of Lebanon.

The government says U.K. nationals, their spouse or partner, and children under the age of 18 are eligible, and priority will be given to the most vulnerable.

Turkey condemned the Israeli ground forces’ incursion into southern Lebanon on Tuesday, labeling it an “unlawful invasion attempt” and demanding an immediate cessation of the offensive and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry warned that the incursion jeopardizes the security and stability of countries in and out of the region, heightening the risk of a new wave of migration and the resurgence of extremist groups. The statement said countries that provide political support and arms to Israel would also be affected.

An Israeli military official said that marching to Beirut, as Israeli forces did during their 1982 invasion of Lebanon, is "not on the table," after Israel warned nearly two dozen Lebanese border communities to evacuate, hours after launching what it said was a limited ground incursion against Hezbollah.

In 1982, the Israeli invasion was also pitched as a limited incursion to push the Palestine Liberation Organization back but Israel only withdrew fully from Lebanon in 2000.

A missile attack has targeted a U.S. military facility near the Baghdad airport, two Iraqi security officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said one rocket fell in an adjacent area used by Iraqi security forces and damaged vehicle parked there.

An explosive-loaded drone crashed into one ship Tuesday in the Red Sea as a missile exploded against another, the British military and private security officials said, marking the latest suspected attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels.

The attacks likely are the rebels' first assaults on commercial shipping in weeks as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a regional conflict.

The White House National Security Council said Israel’s “limited operations” to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure across the border were in line with the country’s right to defend itself.

The NSC, however, warned that an expansion of that operation was a risk. It added that a diplomatic solution was the only way to achieve lasting stability along Israel’s border with Lebanon.

The Israeli military on Tuesday said it had begun a "limited, localized" operation against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, opening a new front in its war against the Lebanese group.

In a brief announcement, it said it was striking Hezbollah targets in areas close to the Israeli border, and that air force and artillery units were carrying out attacks to support the ground forces. It gave no details on how long the operation would last, but said the army had been training and preparing for months.

A Bulgarian government jet has returned to Sofia with 89 nationals who were evacuated from Lebanon.

Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, who welcomed them at the Sofia Airport on Monday, said the government was discussing all options for future evacuations.