Israeli defence minister threatens to take Lebanese territory and keep razing infrastructure
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has threatened to seize more Lebanese territory and continue destroying national infrastructure until Hezbollah is disarmed.
Katz said the Lebanese government had "misled and failed to uphold its commitment to disarm Hezbollah", warning that it will "therefore pay a price until it fulfils that obligation".
His comments follow a statement by the Israeli military on Friday saying it had struck a bridge over the Litani River, which it said served as "a key crossing for terrorists from the Hezbollah terrorist organisation".
Pictures showed the Zrarieh Bridge, which connects villages located on either side of the Litani, broken in two.
The Israeli military added that Hezbollah used the bridge to "build up its power and prepare for combat", but did not provide any evidence for this claim.
"In order to prevent a threat to Israeli civilians... it was necessary to sever the bridge," the military said.
The statement appears to be the first time that the Israeli military has acknowledged targeting civilian infrastructure in its current assault on Lebanon.
International law prohibits militaries from targeting civilian infrastructure, although it can be permitted in some instances if it is being used for military purposes.
The army did not specify what legal guidance it sought prior to the attack, or whether there were any casualties.
“This is only the beginning, and the Lebanese government and the Lebanese state will pay an increasing price through damage to Lebanese national infrastructure that is used by Hezbollah terrorists,” Katz warned.
Israel expands operation in Lebanon
The attack came shortly after Katz announced that the Israeli army had been instructed to expand its operations in Lebanon, warning Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that if his government could not prevent Hezbollah from attacking Israel, his country "would do it ourselves".
On Friday, an Israeli drone struck a residential apartment in Beirut's Burj Hammoud district in the city's northern outskirts. It was the first time in this war that the predominantly Christian area had been struck, suggesting Israel is widening its targets.
On 5 March, following a forced evacuation order issued to tens of thousands of residents of Beirut's southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, Israel's finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said the area would "look like Khan Younis", the now destroyed city in Gaza.
The Israeli army relaunched its assault on Lebanon on 2 March following retaliatory strikes by Hezbollah to avenge the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Israel has responded with daily heavy air strikes, killing more than 700 people and displacing hundreds of thousands.
Israel's Channel 12 News reported that the Israeli government approved the fresh wave of attacks hours before Hezbollah fired its first rockets.
Sources close to Hezbollah previously told Middle East Eye the group believed an Israeli war cabinet meeting was on the verge of taking a major decision against it that same night and decided to act first.
This article was sourced from Middle East Eye.
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