Israeli soldiers patrol along the border with southern Lebanon, in the Upper Galilee of northern Israel. Photo / Jalaa Marey, AFP
Israeli soldiers patrol along the border with southern Lebanon, in the Upper Galilee of northern Israel. Photo / Jalaa Marey, AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to strike Lebanon’s Hezbollah hard after what the Army said was a string of ceasefire violations.
According to a brief statement from his office, Netanyahu “ordered the IDF to forcefully attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon”, after the military said theIran-backed group had violated a ceasefire that was extended earlier this week.
Several hours earlier, in several separate statements, the military said it had “eliminated more than 15 terrorists in southern Lebanon”, including three who were driving a vehicle “loaded with weapons”.
It also accused the militants of “launching explosive drones toward IDF soldiers” in the Qantara area that “detonated” near the troops but caused no injuries.
Troops had also found “an anti-tank missile cache in a Hezbollah weapons storage facility” and an underground shaft containing Kalashnikov rifles, it said.
Lebanese state media reported a series of new Israeli strikes in at least four different locations in the country’s south after Netanyahu’s orders.
The state-run National News Agency reported a pair of strikes in quick succession in a town in Bint Jbeil district, another on a town in Tyre district and strikes on two more towns in Nabatieh district.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it had “struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure used for military purposes across southern Lebanon” and would “continue to operate decisively against threats”.
