Israeli army to intensify ‘offensive operations’ in Lebanon

JERUSALEM

The Israeli army will intensify “offensive operations” in Lebanon, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said on Tuesday.

“Hezbollah must not be given a respite. [We must] keep working with all our might,” he added in statements carried by a military statement during a security assessment.

The Israeli army launched three waves of airstrikes against what it called Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Tuesday.

The attacks came a day after at least 558 people were killed, including 95 women and 50 children, and 1,835 others injured in deadly airstrikes in Lebanon since Monday morning, in one of the country’s deadliest days since Lebanon’s civil war.

"The majority of the victims in the Israeli attacks since Monday morning are defenseless civilians in their homes. This refutes the enemy's allegations of targeting fighters," Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad said.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala