Israel has continued its bombardment of Gaza after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the “intense phase” of the war was winding down, as the United States urged its ally to avoid further escalation along the Lebanon border.
Israeli forces have launched more deadly strikes, with thirteen people killed across two schools and a home hit in Gaza City, according to the Hamas-run territory’s civil defence agency.
With Israel planning to redeploy some soldiers from Gaza to the Lebanese border, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday pressed the country’s defence minister not to allow the violence to spiral.
Blinken “underscored the importance of avoiding further escalation of the conflict and reaching a diplomatic resolution that allows both Israeli and Lebanese families to return to their homes.
There has been daily cross-border fire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, with fears growing in recent weeks that it could turn into another major front.
In the latest fighting, Iran-backed Hezbollah on Monday said it targeted three Israeli military sites over the border.
Israel’s military said its warplanes hit militant infrastructure in the Baalbek area of eastern Lebanon.
Thousands of Lebanese and Israeli civilians from the border areas of their respective nations have been forced to seek refuge away from the fighting in recent months.
