A Washington-brokered ceasefire that has held for over a month appeared increasingly tenuous Tuesday as Israeli troops pushed toward the Litani River, exchanging fire with Hezbollah fighters, according to The Associated Press.
In overnight operations, the Israeli military reported hitting upward of 100 Hezbollah-associated locations, including weapons depots, leadership facilities, and lookout positions spread across southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley to the east. Among the deadliest individual attacks was one on Mashghara, a village in the east, where 12 people were killed — among them multiple relatives from a single family, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had publicly announced approval for stepped-up operations against Hezbollah before the strikes began. Separately, an Israeli security official, citing regulations requiring anonymity, confirmed to the AP that the military had deployed another battalion to the country.
On the other side, Hezbollah claimed it launched rockets, artillery fire, and drone strikes at Israeli troops and vehicles near the river. The group's Al-Manar television channel reported that its fighters turned back Israeli advances along the waterway. Hezbollah has also claimed in recent weeks to be fielding fiber-optic guided drones, a technology that has proven difficult for Israeli defenses to counter.
Residents of Nabatieh, which lies just above the Litani, received Israeli evacuation orders Tuesday, as the city has faced a surge in strikes in recent days. In Beirut, which has not been struck since the ceasefire began, Netanyahu's public statements have unsettled the population, the AP reported. Hamra district resident Tony Aboud captured the public anxiety in remarks to the AP, saying he had no idea how the situation would unfold or how long people could endure the uncertainty.
Direct military talks between Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to take place in Washington within days. Beirut, whose government rose to power promising reform and the disarmament of armed factions, wants those negotiations to produce a lasting end to hostilities and a full pullout of Israeli forces. Tel Aviv, for its part, has conditioned any withdrawal on the elimination of the threat Hezbollah poses to communities in Israel's north.