Israeli defense officials assess that Hamas is closely coordinating with Hezbollah and Iran to revive and rebuild the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” as the Israeli army expands strikes in Gaza and southern Lebanon, Israeli officials said on Thursday, according to a Jerusalem Post report.

The officials said that U.S. pressure is, for now, restraining a fiercer Israeli response to “Hezbollah’s ceasefire violations.”

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has reiterated that Lebanon is ready to engage in talks with Israel, adding that he will seek U.S. help in pushing for negotiations.

The prime minister added, in an interview with Bloomberg, that plans to demilitarize the south are "on track" and that the Lebanese Army is expanding its presence there, particularly in areas near the border with Israel.

The Israeli military has accused Hezbollah of violating the terms of a ceasefire by attempting to re-establish itself in southern Lebanon a short distance from Israel’s northern border.

"The Hezbollah terrorist organization has been working to rebuild its capabilities in the village of Beit Leef in southern Lebanon, in a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon," Israel’s military said Wednesday in a statement.

Residents of Lebanon's Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp described their fear and astonishment a day after a deadly strike that Israel said targeted a Hamas compound, a claim the Palestinian militant group rejected.

Tuesday night's raid, which Lebanese authorities said killed 13 people, was the worst since a ceasefire took effect last year between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Israeli army launched strikes on four south Lebanon towns on Wednesday, claiming it was targeting "Hezbollah infrastructure" after warning civilians of the impending raids.

The strikes came a day after 13 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon -- the worst raid since a ceasefire took effect last year between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, in a statement issued Wednesday, condemned in the strongest terms what it called "the horrific massacre perpetrated by the criminal Zionist enemy last night in the Ain al-Helweh camp in Sidon,” which resulted in the death of thirteen Palestinian refugees and a large number of wounded.

“The attack targeted a densely populated area filled with innocent civilians and children, in a yet another brutal act added to the enemy's dark record of crimes and genocide against Palestinians, Lebanese and the peoples of the region," Hezbollah said.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday called for seeking an urgent U.N. Security Council session over Israel’s attacks in Lebanon.

Commenting on the airstrike that targeted the southern town of al-Tiri earlier in the day and wounded a number of school and university students, Berri decried that Israel considers itself above accountability, lamenting that Lebanon is being condemned and criticized despite “its commitment to Resolution 1701 and the November 2024 cessation of hostilities agreement.”

President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday called Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal and offered condolences over the two soldiers who were killed Tuesday in clashes with drug barons in Baalbek’s al-Sharawneh neighborhood.

“Once again, the army is paying with the blood of its men to protect Lebanese society from the scourge of drugs on the one hand, and to enforce the law on the other. Yesterday's two martyrs have joined a long line of comrades who sacrificed their most precious possession in fulfillment of their oath, reaffirming the military institution's determination, in cooperation with other security forces, to continue enforcing the law, pursuing perpetrators, and curbing crime in all its forms,” Aoun said.

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat voiced Wednesday his support to Lebanese Army chief Rodolphe Haykal after U.S. senators harshly criticized him.

A scheduled visit of Haykal to the U.S. was cancelled Tuesday after U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham posted on the X platform that Haykal is "a giant setback for efforts to move Lebanon forward because of a reference to Israel as the enemy and his weak almost non-existent effort to disarm Hezbollah."

Two soldiers were killed on Tuesday night in a clash between the army and wanted drug dealers in the Sharawneh neighborhood of Baalbek.

Three other soldiers were wounded during the clashes and the wanted drug dealer, who fired at the army, was killed.