Lebanon hostilities escalate, with Israeli leaders defiant in face of US-Iran deal

Violence escalated sharply between Israel and Hezbollah in south Lebanon, with at least 18 reported killed in Israeli strikes and four Israeli soldiers killed in a deadly Hezbollah attack.

Fighting escalated sharply between Israel and Hezbollah in ‌south ​Lebanon overnight, with more than 18 people reported killed in Israeli strikes and four Israeli soldiers killed in one of the deadliest attacks by the Iran-backed group during this war.

The violence showed no sign of abating as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday vowed to "extract a very heavy price" from Hezbollah for the killing of the four soldiers. Paris urged Washington to put pressure on Israel to stop hostilities in ‌Lebanon, where the intensifying violence strained an interim deal between the United States and Iran halting the broader Middle East war.

The deal requires the United States, Iran, and their allies to declare an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon. Violence abated significantly earlier this week, but has since picked up. KATZ SAYS ISRAELI FORCES WILL STAY IN SOUTHERN LEBANON

Israel's leadership has promised to continue the occupation of Lebanon in defiance of the U.S.-Iran agreement, which calls for Lebanon's sovereignty to be respected. In a statement on Friday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ‌said Israeli forces would remain in southern Lebanon "from the Mediterranean coast to the heights of Beaufort".

In an interview on Israeli television, Katz added that the most important military goal was to hold territory. He said the Israeli military was destroying villages in the areas it ‌occupied and would never allow people to return to their homes.

"The 200,000 residents who lived in the security zone are not returning. None of them are returning," said Katz. Lebanon's health ministry said 18 people had been killed and 33 wounded in heavy airstrikes in 11 towns since midnight, and that bombardment was preventing rescue and evacuation efforts. It said the toll was expected to rise.

In one of the targeted locations - the village of Harouf, northeast of the city of Tyre - seven people were killed and many more were believed to be under rubble, health ministry sources told Reuters. RESIDENTS TRY TO FLEE NORTH

Israel said it carried out strikes targeting what it described as Hezbollah operatives ⁠and infrastructure across several ​areas of the south, saying these were in response to repeated ceasefire ⁠violations by the Iran-backed group. Hezbollah denied it had violated the ceasefire, and accused Israel of repeatedly violating the ceasefire terms, including the U.S.-Iran agreement. The statement accused Israeli forces of carrying out attacks that killed civilians, destroying homes and infrastructure, and continuing its ground incursions into parts of southern Lebanon.

Lebanon's state news agency NNA reported heavy displacement from ⁠the southern districts of Tyre and Bint Jbeil, with residents fleeing north amid escalating Israeli strikes. Heavy fighting overnight was concentrated in an area north of the Litani River known as Ali al-Taher hill - high ground strategically important to Hezbollah where Israeli forces had sought to advance, a senior Lebanese security source said.

Hezbollah ​said its fighters ambushed an Israeli force advancing near the hill, destroying three Merkava tanks with guided missiles and targeting troops with rocket and artillery fire. Hezbollah said it later attacked Israeli forces that had sought to enter the area to retrieve ⁠casualties. The Israeli military said four soldiers had been killed in an incident in Lebanon, but without giving further details.

HEZBOLLAH ATTACKS WITH EXPLOSIVE DRONES Lebanon was sucked into the regional war when Hezbollah opened fire at Israel on March 2, prompting Israel to launch a major offensive against the group and invade the south.

Israel has rejected calls to withdraw ⁠troops ​from southern Lebanon, where its forces are occupying a self-declared security zone. Israel says this aims to shield northern Israel from Hezbollah attack. Its forces have been razing villages in the south where they say Hezbollah has embedded itself. On Wednesday, Israel published a map showing an expanded military control zone in southern Lebanon and said it would not rule out carrying out attacks beyond it.

Hezbollah has continued to launch attacks on Israeli positions in the south this week, including with explosive drones that have killed and injured troops. Lebanon's health ministry has recorded 3,912 ⁠people killed in Lebanon as a result of Israeli attacks since March 2, including 746 medics, women and children.

Israel's death toll from this round of hostilities with Hezbollah includes at least 32 soldiers and four Israeli civilians. SMOTRICH URGES ISRAEL TO OPEN 'GATES OF HELL'

Israeli officials ⁠have voiced anger with the U.S.-Iran pact, which the two signed on Wednesday, ⁠saying it did not go far enough to address Israeli concerns over Iran's nuclear program. Israel's far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, both lynchpins in Israel's coalition government, issued blistering calls for revenge after the Israeli military announced the death of the four soldiers.

"For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All of Lebanon must burn," wrote Ben-Gvir in a post on X. His ‌ally Smotrich wrote that it was time ‌to "open the gates of hell".