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Netanyahu visits, vows stay
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon and told them Israel Defense Forces would remain in the area as long as Hezbollah poses a threat, saying, "As long as an armed Hezbollah remains here, threatening us, we will stay."
“"We will not leave southern Lebanon until the threat is eliminated,"”
The visit was described as Netanyahu’s first to Lebanon since Israel invaded its northern neighbor on March 2, and Democracy Now! said Israeli attacks on Lebanon since then have killed over 4,000 people.
In parallel, i24NEWS quoted Netanyahu saying, "We will not leave southern Lebanon until the threat is eliminated," during a tour of the IDF’s security zone alongside Defense Minister Israel Katz and Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai.
The Jerusalem Post reported Netanyahu told soldiers they are instructed to act if they recognize a threat, and it quoted him saying, "Do not wait. Act – this is an ironclad instruction," during the same visit.
An-Nahar reported that during Netanyahu’s visit, female recruits in the artillery corps were removed from a military site in southern Lebanon to prevent their contact with soldiers from the Hashmonai Brigade, with the Israeli army saying the incident resulted from “poor planning” and that an investigation has been opened.
Ceasefire fights and evacuations
Franceinfo reported that on Saturday, April 25, Netanyahu ordered the army to strike pro-Iranian Hezbollah targets in Lebanon with force after reports of violations of the fragile ceasefire extended this week.
Franceinfo said the Lebanese Health Ministry announced that Israeli strikes carried out in the south of the country had killed six people, while the Israeli army said it had eliminated three Hezbollah members traveling in a weapons-laden vehicle and another moving on a motorcycle.
Ici Beyrouth reported that the Israeli army called on residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs to evacuate, warning that if Hezbollah continued to fire rockets toward Israeli cities and towns, the army would respond by targeting objectives in the south of Beirut.
Ici Beyrouth quoted the Arab-speaking military spokesman Avichay Adraee warning, "If the terrorist organization Hezbollah continues to fire rockets toward Israeli cities and towns, the army will respond by targeting objectives in the south of Beirut," and described hundreds of families leaving the suburb after Netanyahu announced he had ordered strikes against Hezbollah targets in the southern suburb of Beirut.
Franceinfo also reported that Hezbollah’s Lebanese MP Ali Fayad said the movement reserved the right to respond to any Israeli aggression during the truce, and that he said the extension of the ceasefire made no sense in light of Israel’s ongoing hostile acts.
Beaufort seizure and next moves
Radio-Canada reported that Netanyahu announced his intention to intensify his offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, describing the seizure of the Beaufort fortress as a 'decisive turning point,' while France requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
“"My directive is now to deepen and broaden our grip on the areas that were under Hezbollah control,"”
Radio-Canada said an Israeli strike carried out on Sunday at dawn on the city of Deir Zahrani in the Nabatieh district killed eight people, including three women, and wounded 19, including five children and six women, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Radio-Canada quoted Netanyahu saying, "My directive is now to deepen and broaden our grip on the areas that were under Hezbollah control," and said the capture opens the way for the army’s advance toward the Nabatieh region.
The same report said Israel ordered the population to evacuate a broad zone of southern Lebanon between its border and the Zahrani River, about forty kilometers further north, and it reported that since the war began on March 2, more than 3,412 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than one million displaced, according to Beirut.
Le Devoir reported Netanyahu said Wednesday evening that "we are determined to change fundamentally the situation in Lebanon," and it quoted Brigadier General Effie Defrin saying, "we are carrying out operations across Lebanon in order to strike Hezbollah and to achieve, at the end of this process, its disarmament," framing the stakes as Hezbollah’s dismantling and disarmament.