Israel has threatened to step up its attacks against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, a day after the Lebanese health ministry reported that four people had been killed in an Israeli airstrike,
The Guardian reports.
Despite the November 2024 ceasefire, Israel maintains troops in five areas in southern Lebanon and has kept up regular strikes.
The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, accused the Lebanese government of delaying efforts to dismantle Hezbollah.
“Hezbollah is playing with fire, and the president of Lebanon is dragging his feet,” Katz said in a statement. “The Lebanese government’s commitment to disarm Hezbollah and remove it from southern Lebanon must be implemented. Maximum enforcement will continue and even intensify – we will not allow any threat to the residents of the north.”
Katz’s threats came as the Israeli Defense Forces confirmed it had carried out an airstrike in southern Lebanon overnight that it said killed four members of the militant group’s elite Radwan Force.
According to the military, the strike in the town of Kfar Reman targeted the unit’s logistics chief, who, while not named, was said to have been involved in the transfer of weapons and in “attempts to restore terror infrastructure” in southern Lebanon.
The IDF said the three other men killed were also members of the Radwan Force and that their activities had violated the ceasefire.
Lebanese media identified the four men as Jawad Jaber, Hadi Hamid, Abdullah Kahil and Muhammad Kahil.
Iran-backed Hezbollah was badly weakened by more than a year of hostilities with Israel, but remains armed and financially resilient. In September 2024, Israel killed the group’s longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah along with many other senior leaders over the course of the war.
