Israeli jets struck several towns in southern Lebanon on Thursday after urging residents to leave, marking an escalation in their near-daily strikes on the country.
The airstrikes came hours after Hezbollah urged the Lebanese government not to enter negotiations with Israel.
Israeli Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned residents in Tayba near the border, Tayr Debba located just east of the coastal city of Tyre, and Aita al-Jabal, to flee 500 metres (about 1,600 feet) away from residential buildings they are targeting, which they say has been used by Hezbollah.
It later issued another warning for the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, near the city of Nabatieh.
The Israeli military said it targeted military infrastructure for Hezbollah in those areas. It accused the group of rebuilding its capabilities almost a year after a US-brokered ceasefire went into effect that ended a monthslong war. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
“We will not allow Hezbollah to rearm themselves, to recover, build back up its strength to threaten the state of Israel,” Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said at a briefing Thursday.
The strikes came as Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and his government met in Beirut to follow up on a plan to disarm Hezbollah and other non-state armed groups in the country drafted by the Lebanese military.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has been critical of Israel's strikes and ongoing occupation of five hill-top points on Lebanese territory but has said he is open to negotiations with Israel to end the tensions.
Israel says its near-daily strikes have targeted Hezbollah officials and military infrastructure, while the Lebanese government that has backed disarming Hezbollah say the strikes have targeted civilians and infrastructure unrelated to the Iran-backed group.
The powerful group's military capabilities were severely damaged in Israel's intense air campaign over the tiny country in 2024, but Hezbollah have yet to disarm and its leader Sheikh Naim Kassim has said that the group will be ready to fight no matter how limited their capabilities might be.
Both sides have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, which nominally ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war last November. The conflict started after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Hamas and the Palestinians, prompting Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling in return. The low-level exchanges escalated into full-scale war in September 2024.
Lebanon's health ministry has reported more than 270 people killed and around 850 wounded by Israeli military actions since the ceasefire took effect. As of Oct. 9, the UN human rights office had verified that 107 of those killed were civilians or noncombatants, said spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan.
No Israelis have been killed by fire from Lebanon since the ceasefire. Hezbollah has claimed one attack since the agreement took effect.