Benjamin Netanyahu Orders Israel To Intensify Strikes Against Hezbollah In Lebanon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to intensify strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon to “crush” the armed group, announcing the directive in a video released on Telegram on Monday night.

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the Israeli military to intensify strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon to “crush” the armed group”

Al Jazeera

Netanyahu said, “We are at war with Hezbollah, and we will intensify our strikes,” and the Israeli military soon announced attacks on Hezbollah infrastructure in the Bekaa Valley and several other areas in Lebanon.

Al Jazeera

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported the announcement sparked an exodus of people from the southern suburbs of Beirut, a major Hezbollah stronghold, as Lebanon marked Liberation Day commemorating the departure of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after an 18-year occupation in 2000.

The escalation came as daily strikes continued across southern Lebanon, with a barrage reported earlier on the districts of Tyre and Nabatieh, where four people were killed and three were injured in the town of Kfar Reman in the Nabatieh district.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said Israel has killed 3,185 people since it entered a state of open war with Hezbollah on March 2.

Netanyahu’s escalation pledge was echoed in a separate video statement where he said, “We’re not going to slow down,” and added that the situation obliges Israel to increase the hits and increase their power.

The BBC reported fears in Beirut that the latest Israeli attacks could widen to include Lebanon’s capital city, after Netanyahu said Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah had “eliminated... over 600 terrorists.”

Al-Jazeera Net

In the same period, the PBS report said Israel’s air force targeted Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, including in the eastern Bekaa Valley, late on Monday as Netanyahu vowed to intensify attacks.

PBS also said Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that after Netanyahu’s post, some residents started leaving Beirut’s southern suburbs where Hezbollah has large presence.

On the ground, PBS reported an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Kfar Rumman killed four people and wounded three, and said the Israel military struck more than 70 Hezbollah infrastructure sites throughout the day.

The fighting and rhetoric unfolded despite a ceasefire that the BBC said had been extended after it was agreed on 16 April, while the Al Jazeera report said the order came despite the “ceasefire” agreed upon with Lebanon last month, which was recently extended.

“Netanyahu: We will increase the scale of our strikes against Hezbollah and we will not stop”

An-Nahar

The BBC described Netanyahu’s stance that Israel’s military offensive against Hezbollah had “eliminated... over 600 terrorists,” while also saying Israel would increase the strikes and the intensity.

The PBS report said Lebanese and Israeli military officials are to meet again on Friday, at the Pentagon, to discuss the ceasefire, as Israel and the United States seek to have Hezbollah disarmed.

The Times of Israel reported that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Hezbollah of trying to plunge Lebanon “back into chaos,” and said Hezbollah had ignored repeated calls from the legitimate Government of Lebanon to cease its attacks and respect a ceasefire.

In parallel, the Guardian reported that Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah lawmaker put under US sanctions this week, said “major transformations are taking place in the region,” while Hezbollah said its chief Naim Qassem received a message from Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi emphasizing “the demand to include Lebanon” in the broader ceasefire.