Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said he had ordered the Israeli military to intensify its offensive in Lebanon, accusing Hezbollah of carrying out drone attacks against Israeli forces.
“I have ordered an even greater acceleration of our operations,” Netanyahu said in a video statement posted on his Telegram channel.
“It is true that they are attacking us with drones, including fibre-optic drones, but we have teams working on countermeasures and we will solve this issue… We will intensify our blows, increase our firepower, and we will crush them.”
The Israeli army stepped up strikes in southern Lebanon on Monday as two far-right Israeli ministers called for further escalation, including attacks on Beirut.
The escalation comes as the United States and Iran are working to finalise the terms of an agreement aimed at ending the Middle East conflict, which could also include the Lebanon front, where Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in conflict since March 2.
Despite a ceasefire that took effect on April 17, Israel and Hezbollah have continued exchanging fire almost daily.
According to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA), dozens of Israeli strikes targeted towns and villages in southern Lebanon early Monday, killing three people in two cars and on a motorcycle. Israeli airstrikes later struck several towns near the ancient city of Tyre.
The strikes followed Israeli evacuation orders issued for 10 villages, with Israel accusing Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire.
“In light of Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Israel Defense Forces are compelled to operate against it with force,” Israeli military Arabic-language spokesperson Colonel Avichay Adraee said in a social media post while listing the villages.
Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese movement, has repeatedly launched drone attacks against Israeli forces inside Lebanese territory and across the border, including several attacks on Monday.
Later in the day, Adraee issued another evacuation warning for residents of a building in Rashidieh and two buildings in Burj al-Shamali near Tyre.
According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli strikes since early March have killed more than 3,100 people.
The Israeli military also said on Monday that one soldier was killed in southern Lebanon the previous day, taking the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the conflict with Hezbollah began to 23. One civilian contractor has also been killed.
*With Agency Inputs