Netanyahu Orders Intensified Strikes Against Hezbollah Targets in Lebanon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he had instructed the Israeli military to intensify strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began launching a wave of strikes on Hezbollah targets across Lebanon on Monday, targeting weapon storage facilities and other infrastructure used by the Iran-backed group.

“We are at war with ​Hezbollah, and we will intensify our strikes,” Netanyahu said in a video message posted on Telegram.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued a warning in a post on X, urging Lebanese residents, particularly those in the city of Tyre, to evacuate the place before the attacks.

“In light of Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Israel Defense Forces is compelled to act against it with force. The IDF does not intend to harm you,” he wrote. “Remaining in the marked buildings area puts you in danger.”

The Israeli military and the terrorist group Hezbollah have ‌continued to trade blows despite an April 16 truce. Iran has demanded a halt to Israeli attacks in Lebanon as a condition in peace talks with the United States.

Before Netanyahu’s remarks, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized Hezbollah for what he called the terrorist group’s “reckless” call to overthrow Lebanon’s democratically elected government.

Rubio said that the Iran-backed armed group “ignored repeated calls from the legitimate Government of Lebanon to cease its attacks and respect a ceasefire” through its continued attacks on Israeli positions and transfer of fighters and weapons into southern Lebanon.

“This is a deliberate campaign to destabilize the country and maintain its power at the expense of the future of the Lebanese people,” Rubio said in a May 24 statement.

Rubio said the Lebanese government is working to “deliver recovery, reconstruction, international assistance, and a stable future for its citizens with the full support of the United States,” while Hezbollah, in contrast, is “actively trying to drag Lebanon back into chaos and destruction.”

Rubio’s statement was issued in response to a televised speech, delivered the same day, by Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, who said in a May 24 speech that Lebanese people “have the right to take to the streets, to overthrow the government, and to resist this Israeli–American project with all their might.”

Netanyahu wrote in a post on X on Sunday that he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump and they agreed that Israel must retain its “right to defend itself against threats on every front, including Lebanon.”

The conflict between the Israeli military and Hezbollah began on March 2, when Hezbollah launched attacks against northern Israel in the wake of U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran. Israel and the terrorist group agreed to a U.S.-brokered truce on April 16, later extended by 45 days, but the two sides continued trading fire.

Guy Birchall and Reuters contributed to this report.