Israeli special forces have conducted targeted raids in Southern Lebanon to gather intelligence and prepare for a possible ground incursion, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The raids have been going on for months and have included entering Hezbollah’s vast tunnel network in advance of a potential ground operation that could launch as early as this week, according to the report.

The Biden administration is applying heavy pressure on Jerusalem not to put boots on the ground in Lebanon, it continued.

ABC News reported overnight Saturday, citing two U.S. officials, that Israel may have begun small-scale cross-border incursions into Lebanon.

The officials stressed that Jerusalem appeared to have not yet decided to send tanks and troops over the Blue Line.

U.S. officials made similar remarks to CNN overnight Saturday, with the American assessment based on the mobilization of Israel troops on the Lebanese border.

Any such operation will likely be limited in scope, the sources stressed to the news networks.

On Saturday, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. (res.) Peter Lerner said that the army was preparing for a ground incursion as an option. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant then held an “operational situation assessment regarding the expansion of IDF activities in the northern arena,” his office said.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi announced on Sept. 25 that the military was preparing a possible ground operation in Lebanon to remove the threat posed by Hezbollah.

The IDF’s 98th Paratroopers Division also recently moved from the Gaza Strip to the northern front, joining the 36th Armored Division under the Northern Command.

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel’s intensifying conflict with Hezbollah, adding that a full-blown regional war must be avoided.

“It has to be,” Biden said as he boarded Air Force One for Washington, D.C. “We really have to avoid it.”

Image - Nati Shohat/Flash90