The Israeli army has intensified strikes in southern Lebanon, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to escalate its offensive to “crush” Hezbollah, further eroding an already fragile ceasefire.
Hezbollah said it staged several attacks on Monday on three barracks and a military post in northern Israel “in response to the violation of the ceasefire” by Israel. The intensifying conflict comes amid waning hopes for an imminent deal between the US and Iran.
Netanyahu stated in a video, “I have ordered an even greater acceleration of our operations. We will intensify our blows, increase our firepower, and we will crush them.” Following his call for escalation, residents were seen fleeing the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold.
The Israeli air force carried out successive strikes in the Bekaa valley and dozens of strikes earlier targeted towns in southern Lebanon, killing three people, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency. Hezbollah has regularly launched drone attacks against Israeli forces.
Two far-right Israeli ministers called for an expansion of the military campaign. The number of Israeli soldiers killed since the outbreak of hostilities now stands at 23, while Lebanese authorities report over 3,100 deaths from Israeli strikes since early March.
