Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday his country has rained "a series of blows" on Hezbollah in recent days that the group "could not have imagined."
"I want to make one thing clear: if Hezbollah hasn't understood the message, I promise you -- it will understand the message," Netanyahu said in a video statement released by his office.
He reiterated again that Israel was committed to the restoration of security in the north as he declared, "We are determined to return our northern residents safely to their homes. We will do whatever it takes to restore security."
Reports from Xinhua news agency, including Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the state-owned defence technology company of Israel, and a military airport in Ramat David base, northern Israel, said Hezbollah extended its rocket attacks overnight into areas near Haifa.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reassured in such a sharp escalation that the military would continue its offensive.
Gallant, speaking during his visit to an Air Force control centre on Sunday morning, said Hezbollah "has begun to feel some of our capabilities," referencing weekend airstrikes in Beirut that killed at least 37 people, including Ibrahim Akil, acting commander of Hezbollah's Elite Radwan Force.
Israel is also believed to have carried out a series of attacks earlier this week that had thousands of mobile communication devices exploded across Lebanon, killing at least 37 people including civilians and wounding thousands more.
In addition, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz declared he had been "in contact with dozens" of other foreign ministers, but there still was no clear answer to the question of whether anybody was ready to directly confront Hezbollah. A message was, however, sent: if the international community fails to pressure Hezbollah into withdrawing its forces north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon, "Israel will do so."
The withdrawal of Hezbollah forces is "essential" to create a security zone that will allow Israeli residents near the border with Lebanon to return to their homes, Katz said.
The Israeli military said Sunday in a statement that it will continue airstrikes against Lebanon, which means it has reportedly bombed some 400 Hezbollah sites since Saturday. According to military sources in Lebanon, at least three people were killed and four others injured on Sunday amid intense airstrikes by Israelis.
United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert Wednesday warned of an "imminent catastrophe" in the region amid fears that the cross-border fighting, which began in October last year, will escalate to an all-out war in the Middle East.
"With the region on the brink of an imminent catastrophe, it cannot be overstated enough: there is NO military solution that will make either side safer," she wrote on the social media platform X.
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