'Move away': Israel calls on Lebanese to leave homes where Hezbollah stores arms

NEW DELHI: Amidst ranging tensions with Hezbollah in its northern front, Israel defence minister insisted that the forces are ramping up attacks in Lebanon until the goal of bringing back the northern residents safely is met. The defence minister also appealed to the public, saying that they should maintain "composure" in the coming days.
"We are deepening our attacks in Lebanon, the actions will continue until we achieve our goal to return the northern residents safely to their homes," Israel's defence minister Gallant said."These are days in which the Israeli public will have to show composure."
The statement by the Israeli defence minister follows a meeting with his counterpart, where defence secretary Lyod Austin was briefed on Israel's latest strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon and escalating situation.
"Provided the Secretary with a situation assessment of Hezbollah threats and briefed him on IDF (Israel Defence Forces) operations to degrade Hezbollah’s ability to launch attacks against Israeli civilians, Gallant said on X.
"We also discussed the wider regional situation and the threats posed by Iran and its proxies," he added.
The Israeli military launched a new wave of attacks against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on Monday, it said in a statement.
"The IDF (Israel Defence forces) is currently conducting strikes on terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in southern Lebanon," the military said.
Earlier, Israeli warplanes carried out an intense wave of air strikes on towns along Lebanon’s southern border and even further north on Monday morning.
Hezbollah and Israel exchanged heavy fire into Sunday, as the Lebanese militant group sent rockets deep into northern Israeli territory after facing intense bombardment.
Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem told mourners at the funeral of one of the group's commanders killed last week in Beirut: "We have entered a new phase, the title of which is the open-ended battle of reckoning."
The conflict, which has escalated sharply in the past week - has raged since Hezbollah opened a second front against Israel, saying it was acting in support of Palestinians facing an Israeli offensive further south in Gaza.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded. The attack was widely blamed on Israel, which has not confirmed or denied responsibility.