National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume full-scale military operations in Lebanon, arguing that current measures were insufficient to counter Hezbollah attacks.

“It is time for the prime minister to take a firm stand with Donald Trump and tell him that Israel is returning to war in Lebanon,” Ben Gvir wrote on social media, calling for expanded military action and tougher economic measures against Lebanon.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also advocated a stronger response, specifically urging strikes on Beirut following Hezbollah drone attacks targeting Israeli troops and positions near the border.

“There is an urgent need to put an end to the threat posed by Hezbollah’s explosive drones,” Smotrich said on Telegram, proposing a significantly more forceful military response against targets in the Lebanese capital
Smotrich added that he had approved a special defense allocation of approximately 2 billion shekels ($692 million) to support the development of counter-drone capabilities for Israel’s security establishment.

The comments from the two ministers came after the Israeli military announced the death of another soldier in southern Lebanon, bringing the number of Israeli military fatalities since the conflict began to 23. One civilian contractor has also been killed, according to Israeli authorities.

The current round of fighting began on March 2 when Hezbollah entered the broader regional conflict following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in joint U.S.-Israeli strikes, according to the report.

Hezbollah subsequently launched rocket attacks into Israel, prompting Israeli retaliatory operations that later expanded into a ground offensive in southern Lebanon.

Israeli forces are currently operating within a self-declared security zone extending roughly 10 kilometers inside Lebanese territory along parts of the southern border. At the same time, Israel has continued conducting airstrikes deeper inside Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreement that took effect on April 17.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says the conflict has killed at least 3,123 people in the country since March, although official figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The growing pressure from coalition hardliners reflects increasing frustration within Israeli political circles over the effectiveness of the ceasefire. Opposition leader Yair Lapid described the truce as ineffective, arguing that continued attacks on northern Israel undermine its credibility.

“Either there is a ceasefire or we respond with disproportionate force to every attack against us,” Lapid told reporters.

The calls for escalation come as Israel and Lebanon continue participating in U.S.-mediated negotiations aimed at reducing hostilities and addressing longstanding security disputes. The two sides are expected to hold a fourth round of talks in early June.

However, prospects for a durable settlement remain uncertain. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has opposed the negotiations and rejected calls to disarm the group, while Hezbollah continues attacks on Israeli military targets in southern Lebanon and across the border.

The ministers’ statements underscore the growing tensions within Israel over how to handle the conflict, as military operations, diplomatic initiatives and domestic political pressures increasingly intersect in one of the region’s most volatile confrontations.

Lebanon’s health ministry said three strikes hit the Saida-South coastal highway in the areas of Barja, Jiyeh and Saadiyat, resulting in eight fatalities. The ministry described the attacks as raids carried out by the “Israeli enemy.”

The Israeli military said it had launched a new wave of strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure across southern Lebanon, hours after issuing evacuation warnings to residents in several villages in the Tyre region.

“The IDF has begun striking Hezbollah terror infrastructure in several areas in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli drones targeted two cars on the highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon, while additional strikes hit vehicles in Saadiyat in the Chouf district and in the southern city of Sidon.

An AFP photographer at the scene near Jiyeh, roughly 20 kilometers south of Beirut, saw a charred vehicle on the roadside as emergency responders carried away a victim’s body.

The latest attacks followed similar strikes in the same area on Saturday and came amid continuing Israeli operations despite a ceasefire that took effect on April 17 to halt fighting with the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

On Tuesday, Lebanon’s health ministry said 13 people were killed in separate Israeli strikes on southern towns. The ministry added that at least 380 people had been killed since the truce began.

The Israeli military’s latest evacuation warnings signaled expectations of additional strikes in southern Lebanon, where intermittent hostilities have persisted despite diplomatic efforts to contain the conflict.

The violence comes ahead of a new round of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel scheduled to take place in Washington on Thursday under US mediation.
Hezbollah has opposed the talks. The group’s leader, Naim Qassem, warned on Tuesday that Hezbollah would turn the battlefield into “hell” for Israel if attacks continued.
Since Hezbollah entered the broader regional conflict in early March, more than 2,800 people, including around 200 children, have been killed in Lebanon, according to figures released by the Lebanese health ministry.