The Israeli military Saturday said it struck multiple sites in south Lebanon on Saturday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered "dozens of terror targets" hit in response to cross-border rocket fire.
"In response to the rocket launch at Israel this morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the (military) to act forcefully against dozens of terror targets in Lebanon," an army statement said.
Lebanon's Hezbollah movement has denied any involvement in the rocket fire directed towards Israel earlier on Saturday.
"The Israeli enemy's claims are merely pretexts to justify its ongoing aggression against Lebanon, which has not stopped since the announcement of the ceasefire," Hezbollah said in a statement released after Israel's fresh attacks.
Hezbollah said it remains committed to the ceasefire deal with Israel reached in November and "stands behind the Lebanese state" in addressing what the group described as a serious Israeli escalation against Lebanon.
One girl was among two killed and three others wounded in Israeli strikes on the town of Touline in southern Lebanon, Lebanese state media reported shortly after.
U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon expressed alarm over the escalation of violence on the Lebanon-Israel border, warning it could have “serious consequences for the region.”
The strikes came hours after Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Saturday said that renewed Israeli operations in southern Lebanon could risk dragging the country into a "new war".
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) quoted Salam as stressing "the need to take all necessary security and military measures, confirming that the state alone has the power to decide war and peace," in a conversation with Defense Minister Michel Menassa.
Salam's comments came hours after the Israeli military said it intercepted three projectiles aimed at northern Israel from the direction of Lebanon.
Warning sirens were heard in the town of Metula, but there were no reports of damage or casualties.
Lebanese security sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur – dpa that Israel responded with artillery in the village of Yohmor and the hills of al-Hamames, across the border from Metula.
Residents in the targeted areas reported hearing loud explosions due to the shelling.
NNA reported Israeli fighter jets in the south and attacks using artillery, tanks and machine guns in several locations.
According to Israeli media reports, the army used artillery fire to target the site from which the rockets were launched.
In a statement posted on X, the Israeli military said Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir had conducted a "situational assessment" and that Israel would "respond severely to the morning's attack."
"The State of Lebanon bears responsibility for upholding the [ceasefire] agreement," it said.
A ceasefire has been in place in Lebanon between Israel and the Hezbollah militia since November.
The deal paused the fighting after more than a year of intense cross-border shelling between Israel and the Iran-backed group, which intensified when Israeli forces launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon in October.
The conflict broke out following Israel’s war on Gaza in response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Israel.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israeli troops are due to completely withdraw from southern Lebanon, but five military posts remain near the border to Israel.
The government in Beirut views the continued presence of Israeli units in the country as a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
According to NNA, Salam also called U.N. official Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert to urge the United Nations to "redouble international pressure on Israel to withdraw completely from the occupied Lebanese territories."
