— We are at war with Hezbollah, and in recent weeks alone our brave soldiers have eliminated over 600 terrorists, Binyamin Netanyahu said in a video posted on social media on Monday.
Despite the formal ceasefire, there are mutual shellings between Israel and the pro-Iranian group almost every day. — They're attacking us with drones, but we can handle it. However, this requires us to intensify our strikes and increase our strength. We will hit them decisively, he added.
The Israeli army occupied southern Lebanon
In early March, Hezbollah joined the US and Israel's war against Iran, siding with Tehran. Hezbollah is not controlled by the Lebanese government. The organization, considered a terrorist group by the West, once occupied the entire south of Lebanon and fought several wars with Israel.
On April 16, the United States announced a ceasefire in the fighting in Lebanon, which was then extended twice, for the last time on May 15 – by 45 days.
Israel responded to Hezbollah's strikes with an intensive operation that took over southern Lebanon to create a buffer zone there. Despite a formal ceasefire, there is mutual firing almost every day.
Israel conducts airstrikes on Lebanon. Nearly 3.2 thousand people have died since the beginning of March. people
On Monday, the Israeli army reported airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, including: in the south of Lebanon and in the Bekaa Valley in the north. Three people were killed in attacks in the south of the country on Monday, the Lebanese NNA news agency reported. The Israeli army said the same day that one of its soldiers had been killed in fighting with Hezbollah in the area.
Since the beginning of March, 3,185 Lebanese residents have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to a statement from the Lebanese Ministry of Health on Monday. Israeli authorities reported the death of several of their soldiers.
Negotiations with Iran are ongoing. Pressure from Tehran
Hezbollah is increasingly using drones in its attacks. Israel has limited scope for action against drones because the US is insisting not to conduct intensive attacks on Hezbollah during peace negotiations with Iran, the Times of Israel website wrote on Monday.
Far-right Israeli cabinet ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gwir are putting pressure on Binyamin Netanyahu to step up attacks on Hezbollah, AFP reported on Monday. The issue of a ceasefire in Lebanon remains one of the controversial points in the ongoing US-Iranian negotiations. Tehran previously announced that it would like the agreement ending the war to also include Lebanon.
