BEIRUT — Israel announced Wednesday its first ground incursions in months into parts of southern Lebanon, an escalation aimed at further weakening Hezbollah as the Iran-backed militant group faces mounting pressure to disarm and avoid another potentially devastating war.

The Israeli military said the “targeted operations” had located and destroyed Hezbollah infrastructure, but it did not say when this happened.

For months, Israel has conducted near-daily strikes against what it describes as Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, intensifying them in recent weeks. The attacks have added to growing fears that the tenuous Israeli-Hezbollah ceasefire, which has been in place since November, may not hold.

Battered by last year’s war with Israel and struggling to recuperate, Hezbollah has yet to respond militarily to any of the Israeli attacks since the truce was agreed.

The United States and Israel have been stepping up pressure on Hezbollah to give up its arsenal — a core requirement of the ceasefire, which ended the country’s deadliest conflict in decades.

— The New York Times