An Israeli artillery gun fires towards southern Lebanon, from northern Israel, on 20 March

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that Israel would intensify military operations in Lebanon and continue striking Beirut unless Hezbollah halts attacks on northern Israel. “If there is no peace in northern Israel, there will be no peace in Beirut,” Katz said in a statement released by his office.

The remarks came as tensions escalated along the Israel-Lebanon border despite a ceasefire agreement that took effect in mid-April. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he had instructed the military to deepen and expand operations in areas of southern Lebanon previously controlled by Hezbollah.

The announcement followed the reported capture of the Beaufort Ridge and the strategic castle located at its summit in southern Lebanon by Israeli forces. Media reports described the operation as Israel’s deepest military advance into Lebanon in more than two decades. The move drew criticism from several Arab states as well as France, Germany and Britain.

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli military said one Israeli commando soldier was killed in southern Lebanon after Hezbollah launched an explosive drone attack near the village of Yohmor. Three other Israeli soldiers were wounded, including one seriously, according to the military. The Israeli military also said Hezbollah launched rockets and drones towards northern Israel throughout Monday morning. Some projectiles were intercepted, while others landed in open areas without causing casualties.

Israeli security forces are seen outside a home in Metula, near the Israel-Lebanon border, that was hit by a Hezbollah unmanned aerial vehicle on May 25, 2026. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

Israel later announced strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs following what Netanyahu and Katz described as repeated Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire. According to Israel’s Channel 12 News, the expanded operations came after the United States approved Israeli requests to widen military activity beyond southern Lebanon to include strikes targeting Beirut.

Despite the ceasefire reached earlier this year, hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have continued through near-daily exchanges of strikes and rocket fire. Lebanon’s Public Health Emergency Operations Centre said Israeli attacks since 2 March have killed more than 3,400 people and wounded over 10,200 others across Lebanon.

Lebanese rescue workers holding stretchers, search the site of an Israeli airstrike on the town of Nabatieh, in southern Lebanon on May 25, 2026. (Abbas Fakih/AFP)

The renewed escalation has increased fears of a broader regional conflict amid continued instability across the Middle East.