The renewed offensive comes as diplomatic efforts involving the United States and Iran continue in parallel to end a wider regional conflict that has drawn in multiple fronts across the Middle East, including the Israel-Hezbollah confrontation along the Lebanese border.

In a video statement, Netanyahu said he had directed the Israeli military to accelerate operations against the Iran-backed militant group, citing continued drone attacks on Israeli positions.

“I have ordered an even greater acceleration of our operations,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel would intensify its military campaign and increase firepower against Hezbollah.

The Israeli military subsequently launched a series of strikes across the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon and targeted multiple locations in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.

Lebanese media reported that at least three people were killed in separate strikes involving two vehicles and a motorcycle. Additional airstrikes were reported near the coastal city of Tyre and in other areas of southern Lebanon.

The escalation followed evacuation warnings issued by the Israeli military for residents in 10 villages in southern Lebanon. Israeli authorities accused Hezbollah of violating the April 17 ceasefire agreement through continued attacks on Israeli forces and territory.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said operations were being conducted in response to Hezbollah activities that breached the truce.
Hezbollah said it had carried out several drone attacks against Israeli military positions on Monday and later announced strikes targeting three military barracks and an additional post in northern Israel. The group described its actions as retaliation for Israeli violations of the ceasefire.

Despite the agreement reached in April, hostilities have persisted almost daily, underscoring the fragility of efforts to stabilize the Israel-Lebanon frontier.
The violence prompted visible displacement in parts of Lebanon. Residents were seen leaving neighborhoods in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a stronghold of Hezbollah, following warnings of possible expanded military action.

According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli operations since the outbreak of fighting in early March have killed more than 3,100 people. Israel said one soldier was killed in southern Lebanon on Sunday, bringing the number of Israeli military fatalities in the conflict to 23. One civilian contractor has also been reported killed.

Pressure for a broader military campaign has intensified within Israel’s governing coalition. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for harsher retaliatory measures against Hezbollah drone attacks, while National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir advocated a return to intensive warfare and greater territorial control in southern Lebanon.

Israeli forces currently maintain positions inside a security zone extending several kilometers into Lebanese territory. The military has identified the Litani River as a strategic boundary beyond which Hezbollah fighters should not operate.

Amid the escalation, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reaffirmed his demand for a full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, describing the issue as non-negotiable. He also defended ongoing indirect contacts between Lebanese and Israeli officials.

The two countries, which do not maintain diplomatic relations, are scheduled to participate in talks in Washington on June 2 and 3, preceded by military-level discussions at the Pentagon later this week.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem reiterated opposition to direct negotiations with Israel and rejected calls for the group to disarm, signaling that key obstacles to a durable settlement remain unresolved.

The latest escalation highlights the challenge facing regional mediators seeking to contain multiple interconnected conflicts across the Middle East as negotiations over Iran, maritime security and broader ceasefire arrangements continue.

The Israeli military said it had begun targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in the Bekaa region as well as in southern Lebanon, while security sources told Reuters that strikes hit near the town of Nabi Chit, close to Lebanon’s border with Syria.

No immediate fatalities were reported.The strikes marked the first attacks on the Bekaa Valley since the ceasefire came into force, significantly reducing but not ending the exchange of fire between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group.

Israel has continued near-daily strikes across southern Lebanon and maintains troops in a strip of territory along the border, where it says operations are aimed at dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure and preventing further attacks.

Lebanon’s state news agency reported multiple Israeli strikes in southern areas on Monday that wounded at least three people.Hezbollah said it had attacked an Israeli tank in southern Lebanon using a drone.

The Israeli military later confirmed that a Hezbollah drone exploded near its troops in southern Lebanon but said no casualties were reported.The ceasefire followed weeks of intense fighting that escalated after Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel on March 2 in support of its ally Iran, prompting a broad Israeli ground and air campaign across Lebanon.

Since then, more than 2,500 people have been killed in Israeli strikes across Lebanon, with large parts of the south heavily damaged and thousands displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.

The conflict has deepened political divisions inside Lebanon, particularly over Hezbollah’s independent military role and the prospect of diplomatic engagement with Israel.

Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States have held two rounds of discussions related to the ceasefire framework, which is intended to create conditions for possible direct negotiations aimed at securing a broader peace arrangement between the longtime adversaries.

Hezbollah has strongly rejected such talks.Its leader, Naim Qassem, said on Monday that direct negotiations with Israel would amount to a “humiliating and unnecessary concession,” dismissing any outcomes from such discussions as irrelevant to the group.

“Let it be clear, these direct negotiations and their outcomes are considered nonexistent to us and do not concern us at all,” Qassem said in a written statement. “We will continue our defensive resistance for Lebanon and its people.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun defended the government’s decision to pursue face-to-face talks and appeared to criticize Hezbollah’s unilateral decision to enter the regional conflict without broad national agreement.

“What we are doing is not treason; rather, treason is committed by whoever takes his country to war to achieve external interests,” Aoun said in a statement released by his office, without naming Hezbollah directly.

“Some hold us accountable for deciding to go to negotiations on the pretext of the lack of national consensus, and I ask: When you went to war, did you first obtain national consensus?” he said.

The remarks underscored widening internal tensions over Lebanon’s security policy as the government seeks to balance domestic political divisions, ongoing Israeli military pressure and international efforts to prevent a broader regional escalation.