Israel vows stronger military action against Hezbollah

Israel will escalate strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, as a U.S. official said the militia had ignored warnings to halt firing at Israel in a conflict that could threaten U.S.-Iran negotiations.

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued to trade blows despite an April 16 truce aimed at halting the deadliest spillover of the U.S.-Israeli joint war on Iran. Tehran has demanded a halt to Israeli attacks in Lebanon as a condition in talks with the U.S. aimed at ending the broader war.

As the U.S. and Iran appeared to draw closer to a potential deal on Sunday, Netanyahu said he and President Donald Trump agreed in a phone call that Israel would retain the right to confront perceived threats on all fronts, including Lebanon.

Netanyahu doubled down on that message on Monday night, saying in a video released on Telegram: "We are at war with Hezbollah, and we will intensify our strikes."

He said Israel's military was not taking its "foot off the gas. On the contrary, I said to step on the gas even more."

Israel's military has remained deployed in a broad swathe of southern Lebanon since the April 16 truce, with its air force striking what it describes as Hezbollah positions and its ground forces demolishing towns where it says the militia holds sway.

Hezbollah has fired explosive drones at Israeli troops and toward towns in northern Israel, killing at least 11 soldiers since the truce, the military says. At least 608 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli attacks during the same period, according to the World Health Organization. Hezbollah has not released figures on its war dead.

Fearing a renewed Israeli assault on Beirut, which suffered weeks of heavy bombardment before the April 16 truce, people began fleeing the city's southern suburbs on Monday night after Netanyahu's video message was released, Lebanese security sources said.

Israel views the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs as a Hezbollah stronghold. Except for a strike targeting a Hezbollah commander in the area earlier this month, there have been no strikes on Beirut or its surroundings since the April 16 truce.

Netanyahu did not say in his video message whether Israel planned to resume broader attacks in Beirut. After his video was released, the military said it was attacking Hezbollah sites in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, rarely hit since the truce.

The truce helped enable negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, brokered by the U.S. in Washington, where a May 15 round saw the two sides agree to a 45-day ceasefire extension.

It was not immediately clear whether Netanyahu's pledge to intensify strikes in Lebanon would impact those discussions.

A U.S. official said Hezbollah "has ignored repeated requests to stop firing at Israel, including a recent ultimatum." The official accused the militia of trying to derail Israel-Lebanon talks by firing rockets and drones at Israel.

"Israel will never be expected to passively absorb attacks on its forces and civilians," the official said.

The Israeli leader has been under pressure to address Hezbollah's increased use of explosive drones to attack Israeli troops, one of whom was killed in such an attack on Sunday.