Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his military to intensify strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Monday, saying the goal was to "crush" the armed group. The announcement came on Lebanon's Liberation Day, which marks the departure of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after an 18-year occupation in 2000.
In a video released on Telegram, Netanyahu declared, "We are at war with Hezbollah, and we will intensify our strikes." He said Israel's military would not be taking its "foot off the gas. On the contrary, I said to step on the gas even more."
Shortly after his statement, the Israeli military announced strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in the Bekaa Valley and several other areas. Lebanon's National News Agency reported that the announcement triggered an exodus of people from the southern suburbs of Beirut, a major Hezbollah stronghold, according to Al Jazeera.
The order came despite a ceasefire agreement reached with Lebanon the previous month, which had recently been extended. It also came in line with calls from far-right coalition partners for an escalation of military action. Two of Netanyahu's far-right ministers called on him Monday to resume bombing Beirut after an Israeli soldier was killed by a drone strike during combat in southern Lebanon. Another soldier was severely injured in the same incident.
Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich said Israel must "put an end to the threat of Hezbollah's explosive drones."
Earlier in the day, a barrage of Israeli attacks was reported on the districts of Tyre and Nabatieh. Four people were killed and three injured in the town of Kfar Reman in the Nabatieh district. Several strikes also targeted the al-Midan neighborhood in the city of Nabatieh, damaging residential buildings and a Shia Muslim community centre.
Israeli aircraft dropped incendiary phosphorus munitions on forests in the Qlailah municipality, causing fires in citrus groves and on farmland. Phosphorus munitions ignite upon contact with oxygen, and their use in populated areas is widely condemned.
Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health reported that Israel has killed 3,185 people since it entered a state of open war with Hezbollah on March 2.
