Following intensified fighting and Hezbollah's large salvo of rockets and drones, Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz announced an intensification of military operations in Lebanon and threatened to seize Lebanese territory if the Lebanese government cannot control the militant group.Israel issued expanded evacuation orders for southern Lebanon, with Hezbollah firing hundreds of projectiles, including strikes aimed at Tel Aviv, and Israel responding with strikes on central Beirut that killed eight and wounded 30.The escalating exchanges have raised concerns about a wider regional conflagration, with a prior Israeli air offensive against Lebanon having resulted in over 634 deaths and 1,586 wounded, alongside approximately 800,000 displaced people.The conflict's roots lie in the alleged assassination of Iranian supreme leader
Ali Khamenei, triggering coordinated attacks with
Iran and broader Israeli operations targeting
Iran's nuclear facilities and cultural sites, further escalating regional tensions.