The Israeli military told residents Wednesday to leave the southern Lebanese city of Tyre as it carried out airstrikes despite an ongoing ceasefire agreement.
The military said on X that it would “work with extreme force” against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, warning civilians to stay away from the group’s operatives, facilities and weapons sites. Tyre is Lebanon’s fifth-largest city.
Israel has intensified its campaign in Lebanon in recent days despite the ceasefire agreement, with troops crossing the Litani River and edging closer to the southern city of Nabatiyeh.
The latest escalation comes two days before Lebanese and Israeli military officials were scheduled to meet at the Pentagon to discuss, among other things, strengthening the ceasefire that has been in place for over a month.
The Litani River has become a de facto boundary in Lebanon, with large areas to the south still under Israeli military control.
Amid a surge in Hezbollah drone attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to expand military operations.
Video shows paramedics hit by Israeli strike in Lebanon
“The [Israel Defense Forces] are operating with large forces on the ground and seizing strategic areas,” he said, adding that Israel is trying to fortify an area of southern Lebanon under its control, which it says is necessary to protect residents in Israeli border towns from Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks.
Israel’s military said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah sites across southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley area overnight, adding that it targeted storage facilities, command centers and observation points used to attack Israeli troops and residents in northern Israel.
One strike hit the eastern village of Mashghara, killing 12 people, including several members of one family, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.
Hezbollah said it launched several rocket, artillery and exploding drone attacks on Israeli troops and vehicles mobilizing along the river toward the Nabatiyeh villages of Yohmor al-Shaqif and Zawtar al-Sharqieh. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said the militant group repelled attacks along the riverbanks.
The war started March 2 after Hezbollah fired rockets toward northern Israel in solidarity with Iran. Over 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced, and over 3,200 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to Lebanon’s Public Health Ministry.
Hezbollah has vowed to fight until the war ends in Lebanon and Israel withdraws its troops who operate across large swaths of the country’s south.
Iran has demanded that Israel end its invasion of Lebanon as part of any deal with Washington to end its own conflict with the U.S. and Israel.
Israel’s widened attacks in recent days have struck areas in eastern Lebanon along the Bekaa Valley, near the border with Syria. On Tuesday, Israel struck near the Qaraoun Dam, Lebanon’s largest, on the Litani River.
