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LOADINGERROR LOADING BEIRUT (AP) — 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 militant group Hezbollah urged the Lebanese government not to enter negotiations with Israel. Advertisement Israeli Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned residents in Tayba near the border, Teir Debba located just east of the coastal city of Tyre, and Aita al-Jabal in southern Lebanon, to flee 500 meters (about 1,600 feet) away from residential buildings they are targeting, which they say have been used by Hezbollah. It later issued more warnings for the towns of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah and Kfar Dounin. 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 U.S.-brokered ceasefire went into effect that ended a monthslong war. While most residents evacuated the threatened areas ahead of the strikes, Lebanon’s health ministry reported one person wounded. “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. Advertisement The strikes came as Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and his government met in Beirut to follow up on a plan drafted by the Lebanese military to disarm Hezbollah and other non-state armed groups in the country. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has been critical of Israel’s strikes and ongoing occupation of five hilltop points on Lebanese territory but has said he is open to negotiations with Israel to end the tensions. Advertisement 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 Kassem 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. Advertisement 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 U.N. human rights office had verified that 107 of those killed were civilians or noncombatants, said spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan. Advertisement No Israelis have been killed by fire from Lebanon since the ceasefire. Hezbollah has claimed one attack since the agreement took effect. Also Thursday, the U.S. Treasury announced a new set of sanctions that it said target “financial operatives who oversee the movement of funds from Iran” to Hezbollah, including through licensed and unlicensed money exchanges shops that it said “fail to conduct adequate screening on their customers” and allow Hezbollah “to take advantage of Lebanon’s largely cash-based economy to launder illicit money.” TheBacklashis Here! Your SupportFuelsOur Mission Your SupportFuelsOur Mission Cut through the chaos Americans just sent Trump a clear message — and Dems are calling it "a 5-alarm fire" for the president. Our reporters are here to keep you informed and make sense of Washington's chaos. Join HuffPost and be part of what happens next. We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves. Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again. We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves. Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again. Support HuffPost Already a member? Log in to hide these messages. —- Associated Press journalists Areej Hazboun in Jerusalem and Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.
