Israel threatens to escalate attacks after killing four in southern Lebanon

Israel's defence minister on Sunday threatened to intensify attacks in Lebanon, hours after four people were reported killed in fresh airstrikes.

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Lebanon over the past year and continues to occupy parts of the country's south in violation of the November 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah.

The US and Israel have ramped up pressure on the Lebanese government to disarm the Shia group, which it has refused to do.

"Hezbollah is playing with fire, and the president of Lebanon is dragging his feet," Israeli defence minister Israel Katz wrote in a post on social media.

"The Lebanese government's commitment to disarm Hezbollah and remove it from southern Lebanon must be implemented. Maximum enforcement will continue and even intensify – we will not allow any threat to the residents of the north."

Lebanon's health ministry said on Saturday that four people were killed and three others injured in an Israeli airstrike in Nabatieh governorate.

The country's state news agency reported that the Israeli military struck a car with a guided missile at around 2230 (2030 GMT).

Lebanon's president Joseph Aoun had called for direct talks with Israel in the wake of the ceasefire in Gaza three weeks ago but has since taken a more combative tone amid continued Israeli aggression.

A deadly raid into Lebanese territory by Israeli troops on Thursday led to the president instructing the army to "confront" future incursions.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a year-long conflict after the Iran-backed group began firing missiles across the border in October 2023 in response to Israel's attack on Gaza.

During the war Israel assassinated many of its senior officials, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah and his successor Hashem Safieddine.

Under the ceasefire, the Lebanese army has deployed across the south and has begun dismantling Hezbollah's infrastructure and confiscating its weapons.

The government has committed to fully disarming the group across the country by the end of the year, but it is unclear how it can achieve this without sparking internal conflict.

US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack acknowledged the risks of attempting to strip Hezbollah of its weapons at an event on Saturday.

"It is not reasonable for us to tell Lebanon to forcibly disarm one of its political parties. Everybody is scared to death to go into a civil war," he said the Manama Dialogue summit in Bahrain.