The Israeli forces clashed with Hezbollah on Tuesday along the strategic Litani river in southern Lebanon as troops advanced beyond the security zone.
This comes even as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a statement earlier that the Israeli military is “operating with large forces in the field and seizing strategic areas.”
Despite a fragile US-brokered ceasefire in place between Israel and Lebanon since April 16, both sides have accused each other of violations. A US official had earlier said that Israel’s renewed intention to expand operations came after Hezbollah repeatedly ignored warning to halt its attacks which would undermine the negotiations, Reuters news agency reported.
‘Fortifying security strip to protect northern communities’
Netanyahu said the Israeli forces were “fortifying the security strip to protect” its northern communities. Hezbollah had earlier carried out strikes on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and at some sites in northern Israel.
According to two sources cited by Reuters, the Israeli troops expanded their ground operations past the security zone. However, the sources did not give details on the extent of the advance beyond the so-called Yellow Line.
The line is a part of a proposed buffer zone extending 5 km to 10 km (3 miles to 6 miles) into southern Lebanon. This is separate from a ‘Blue Line’ demarcated by the United Nations marking the frontier between Lebanon and Israel after the latter withdrew in 2000.
Israel pounds Lebanon with more than 120 strikes
Israel on Tuesday pounded Lebanon with more than 120 airstrikes, in what was reportedly one of the heaviest days of bombing in weeks in the conflict, according to Reuters.
The strikes, which hit across southern and eastern Lebanon, killed at least 10 people, including women and children, in the town of Burj al-Shamali, Reuters reported citing Lebanon’s National News Agency. Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, urged 19 villages across southern Lebanon to evacuate. “For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move north of the Zahrani River,” Adraee said in a post on X. The military ordered residents not to return to their homes in the zone, and is destroying houses in the area, Reuters reported.
The Israeli military was trying to “remove direct threats”, according to an official, and was “operating in a targeted manner beyond the Forward Defense Line.”
Israeli PM Netanyahu had on Monday said his military would intensify strikes against Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Hezbollah on Tuesday said it had targeted Israeli forces and tanks moving towards the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Sharqiya.
