Netanyahu orders escalation to crush Hezbollah in Lebanon
Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered Israel’s military to escalate its offensive in southern Lebanon to “crush” Hezbollah after renewed cross-border attacks. In a video statement posted on his Telegram channel, netanyahu said, “I have ordered an even greater acceleration of our operations.”
He added, “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.”
Southern Lebanon under fresh strikes
The Israeli army intensified strikes in southern Lebanon on Monday, while the Israeli air force carried out successive strikes in the Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon that evening. Earlier in the day, dozens of Israeli strikes targeted several towns and villages in southern Lebanon, and Israeli airstrikes later hit towns near the ancient city of Tyre.
Israel issued evacuation orders for 10 villages before those strikes. An Agence France-Presse correspondent saw residents fleeing the southern suburbs of Beirut after the call for escalation.
Hezbollah targets northern Israel
Hezbollah said it staged several attacks on Monday on three barracks and a military post in northern Israel, describing the strikes as being “in response to the violation of the ceasefire” by Israel. In the early hours of Tuesday, Hezbollah also claimed responsibility for at least four drone attacks on Shomera barracks, two barracks in other towns in the region, and one military post in Misgav Am.
Hezbollah has regularly launched drone attacks against Israeli forces inside Lebanese territory and across the border. Israel accused Hezbollah of breaching the truce, and the exchange of fire has continued on a near-daily basis since a ceasefire took effect on 17 April.
Casualties and pressure in Israel
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that the early strikes killed three people in two cars and on a motorcycle. According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli strikes since early March have killed more than 3,100 people, a toll that has come alongside repeated strikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley.
The Israeli military said on Monday that a soldier had been killed the previous day in southern Lebanon, bringing the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the outbreak of hostilities with Hezbollah to 23. One civilian contractor has also been killed. Two far-right ministers called for an expansion of Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon, and Bezalel Smotrich said there is an urgent need to put an end to the threat posed by Hezbollah’s explosive drones.
The next confirmed development comes from the continued exchange of fire that has followed the 17 April ceasefire and the widening Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon, the Bekaa valley, and areas near Tyre.
