Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had ordered the military to expand its operations deeper into southern Lebanon, saying the move was needed to stop continued rocket and anti-tank missile attacks by Hezbollah and strengthen security along Israel’s northern border.
In a video statement from Israel’s Northern Command, Netanyahu said he had instructed the army to widen the existing security zone to “finally thwart the threat of invasion” and push Hezbollah’s anti-tank fire farther from Israeli communities near the frontier. He did not specify whether the expansion would remain within the buffer zone Israel said last week would extend up to the Litani River, about 30 km north of the border, or involve the seizure of additional territory.
“I have now instructed to further expand the existing security zone in order to finally thwart the threat of invasion and to push the anti-tank missile fire away from our border,” news agency Reuters quoted Netanyahu.
The announcement marks a further escalation in fighting that intensified after Iran-backed Hezbollah began launching rockets into Israel following U.S. and Israeli air strikes on Iran earlier this month. Netanyahu said Israeli forces had already eliminated thousands of Hezbollah fighters and significantly reduced what he described as the threat posed by the group’s missile arsenal. However, he said Hezbollah still retained the ability to launch rockets and that Israel was determined to “fundamentally change the situation in the north.”
The conflict has exacted a heavy toll on both sides. Lebanese health authorities say Israeli strikes and ground operations have killed more than 1,100 people in Lebanon, including women, children and medical workers, while the Israeli military says four soldiers have died in combat in southern Lebanon. Sources familiar with Hezbollah’s internal count told Reuters more than 400 of its fighters have been killed since the latest war began on March 2.
Netanyahu said the Lebanon campaign formed part of a wider multi-front war against Iran and its regional allies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, arguing that Israel’s operations were steadily weakening Tehran’s influence across the Middle East.
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