The latest wave of anxiety followed a statement by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, who warned that there would be “no calm in Beirut” if Hezbollah’s attacks on Israeli forces and northern Israel continued.
“The Dahieh in Beirut is no different from the communities in northern Israel – if there is no calm in the north, there will be no calm in Beirut,” Katz said, referring to the densely residential area in Beirut's southern suburb.
The warning came as Israel intensified its ground and air offensive in Lebanon in recent days.
Hezbollah said its fighters were still confronting Israeli troops near the ancient Beaufort Castle, the strategic hilltop fortress in southern Lebanon, a day after Israel said it had seized it and raised the Israeli flag there.
Hezbollah said in a statement on Monday that its fighters were engaged in a “battle of attrition” against Israeli troops in the area.
Israel has framed its expanded campaign as an effort to push Hezbollah away from Israeli forces and residents in the north. Katz said the Israeli army was working to turn the area around the Litani River into a zone under its security control, “free of weapons and terrorists”.
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