The ground assault comes as Israel continues to bomb areas around South Lebanon. A Lebanese official said Israel is carrying out an “unprecedented” air attack on the ancient city of Baalbek. The assault began late Tuesday — three hours before the end of Israel’s announced two-day pause to the bombing. At least twelve civilians were killed in an Israeli air strike in a nearby village. Five family members were found dead in their collapsed home. Witnesses said Israel bombed Baalbek’s main hospital, which was already filled with wounded patients. The raid of Baalbek marked Israel’s deepest known incursion into Lebanon in twelve years, when Israeli forces abducted a Lebanese militant leader it later released in a prisoner exchange. Meanwhile, three Israeli soldiers and an unknown number of Hezbollah fighters were killed in clashes near the Israel-Lebanon border.