Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had ordered the military to expand its operations in southern Lebanon, claiming continued attacks by Hezbollah.
Israel said last week it was enlarging a "buffer zone" inside Lebanon up to the Litani River, about 30km from the border with northern Israel. It was not immediately clear whether Mr Netanyahu was referring to that area or more territory.
"I have now instructed to further expand the existing security zone in order to finally thwart the threat of invasion and to push the anti-tank missile fire away from our border," Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement from Israeli Northern Command.
He did not specify the extent of the expansion, which has not yet been discussed by his security cabinet
Last week, Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces would "control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani".
Israel began heavily bombing Lebanon and sent troops into areas near the border in response to renewed rocket fire from Iran-backed Hezbollah after the US and Israel launched a war on Iran on February 28.
The Israeli military has destroyed or damaged at least eight bridges across the Litani that it said were being used by Hezbollah for moving supplies. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has said the move was a "prelude to a ground invasion".
Israeli strikes and ground operations have killed more than 1,100 people in Lebanon, including children, women and medical personnel, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, whose figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. More than a million people have been displaced after Israel ordered residents of areas south of the Litani and southern areas of Beirut to leave their homes before intense bombardment.
More than 400 fighters from Hezbollah have been killed since the Lebanese armed group launched the opening salvoes of a new war with Israel on March 2, sources told Reuters.
The Israeli military has reported four soldiers killed in fighting in southern Lebanon.
Mr Netanyahu said the decision to expand military operations aimed to strengthen Israel's security position along its northern frontier.
"We eliminated thousands of Hezbollah terrorists, and above all, we eliminated the immense threat of 150,000 missiles and rockets that were intended to destroy the cities of Israel," he said.
"However, Hezbollah still has a residual capability to launch rockets at us … we are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north."
He said Israel was conducting a multi-front campaign against Iran and allied groups, including Hezbollah and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, and said Israel's actions were weakening Iran’s regional influence.
Sirens sounded in the northern Israeli city of Tiberias and nearby towns on Sunday after a Hezbollah rocket attack.
Mr Netanyahu's announcement came as funerals were held for three journalists from Hezbollah-affiliated media outlets who were killed in Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon on Saturday.
Israeli strikes have also killed 51 Lebanese health workers killed since March 2, according to the World Health Organisation, including nine paramedics on Saturday.
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said another paramedic was killed in a strike on an ambulance in Bint Jbeil on Sunday, and that a medical warehouse in the same city was destroyed in an attack.
With reporting from Reuters
