Israeli report claims that Israel may 'attack Beirut' in coming days

The estimations suggest that Israel will attack Beirut in the coming days, Israeli officials told Israel's Channel 13 on Wednesday, after Hezbollah claimed a rocket attack on north Israel.

"If any violation occurs by Hezbollah, the Israeli army will be able to attack throughout Lebanon, including Beirut," Israel's Channel 14 reported.

Channel 13 meanwhile reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold special security consultations on Wednesday evening regarding the situation in Lebanon and a possible response to Hezbollah's "violations."

Earlier in the day, an Israeli drone strike killed a Hezbollah member in Khalde near Beirut.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter meanwhile accused Hezbollah of firing rockets at Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel, lamenting that "this is Hezbollah's idea of a ceasefire."

"It should be remembered that Israel agreed to refrain from striking Hezbollah command centers in Beirut on the condition that Hezbollah would stop attacking Israeli towns and villages," Leiter reminded.

"This morning's attack is yet another blatant violation of that understanding," he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Monday that he had brokered a deal that Lebanon said would halt Israeli attacks on Beirut and Hezbollah attacks on Israeli territory, before expanding in scope. Trump made the announcement after berating Netanyahu in an expletive-ridden phone call, after he was infuriated by an Israeli decision to resume the bombing of Beirut's southern suburbs.

Since then, Israel has said it has Washington's backing to strike Beirut's southern suburbs -- a Hezbollah stronghold -- if the group targets northern Israeli communities.

The Israeli threat to bomb the southern suburbs had prompted Hezbollah's backer Iran to suspend its talks with Washington and threaten to strike northern Israel.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it intercepted a "hostile aircraft" and two projectiles that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon.

Hezbollah, for its part, said that "in response to the Israeli enemy army's violation of the ceasefire", its fighters targeted soldiers in northern Israel with a rocket barrage.

A truce to halt the fighting in Lebanon was meant to take hold on April 17, but has never been observed, with both sides justifying their ongoing attacks by the other's alleged violations.

Senior Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati had told AFP on Tuesday that the group would "not accept a partial ceasefire."

Despite the ongoing fighting, Israeli and Lebanese diplomats held a second day of direct talks in Washington as part of the fourth round of direct negotiations.