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Israeli jets struck three towns in southern Lebanon on Thursday, marking an escalation in their near-daily strikes on the country. The airstrikes came despite a ceasefire from November 2024, and hours after Hezbollah urged the Lebanese government not to enter negotiations with Israel. There was no immediate toll provided by the Lebanese health ministry from the afternoon airstrikes. Earlier Israeli strikes on Thursday killed one person, according to the ministry. Residents in Tayba, Tayr Debba and Aita al-Jabal were warned by Israeli Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee to flee 500 metres from the residential buildings they are targeting, which they say have been used by Hezbollah. Lebanon's civil defence helped people evacuate the areas, the Lebanese state news agency said. The Israeli military claims it targeted military infrastructure for Hezbollah in those areas. It accused the militant group of rebuilding its capabilities almost a year after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire went into effect. Hezbollah has not fired on Israel since the truce deal came into force last year. "Israel will continue to defend all of its borders, and we continue also to insist on the full enforcement of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel," Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told reporters on Thursday. Lebanon open to talks The evacuation warnings coincided with a meeting of Lebanon's cabinet to hear an update from army commander Rodolphe Haykal on progress in confiscating Hezbollah arms depots in south Lebanon. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has been critical of Israel's strikes and military presence on five hilltop points on Lebanese territory. Last week, Aoun instructed the army to confront any Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon after Israeli forces crossed the border overnight and killed a municipal employee. But Aoun has said he is open to negotiations with Israel to end the tensions, something which Hezbollah is against. The militant group, which also has a political wing, said before the strikes that they had "a legitimate right to resist [Israeli] occupation." adding that it would support the Lebanese army. Hezbollah also said that, while Lebanon was bound by a ceasefire, it was not obligated to be drawn into political negotiations with Israel. Lebanon slams Israel after airstrikes in Beirut area Israel launches deadly airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley 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 group. The powerful group's military capabilities were severely damaged in Israel's intense air campaign over Lebanon in 2024, but Hezbollah has yet to disarm and its leader Sheikh Naim Qassem 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 offensive 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.
