Any “Hezbollah attack” will be met with a “powerful response” from Israel and if Hezbollah crosses Israel’s “red lines,” a “broad operation” will be carried out in Lebanon, Israel’s Maariv newspaper quoted the Israeli army as saying on Wednesday.

“We’re currently carrying out a gradual exhaustion of Hezbollah’s capabilities and Hezbollah might reach the red line drawn by Israel within months,” the Israeli army reportedly added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has discussed in closed-door meetings with military leaders warnings and reports described by Israel as serious, indicating that Hezbollah is “continuing its armament and infrastructure rebuilding operations in southern Lebanon,” Israeli media reports said.

These reports also mentioned the alleged smuggling of short-range missiles from Syria, the restoration of buildings in southern Lebanon, and the deployment of local fighters to villages.

One person was killed and another was wounded when an Israeli drone bombed a car in the southern town of Burj Rahal on Wednesday, the National News Agency said.

The strike also caused a state of panic among students in two nearby schools, prompting their parents to scramble to take them home, NNA added.

Hamish Falconer, the UK Minister for the Middle East, has ended a two-day visit to Lebanon, the British embassy said on Tuesday.

An Israeli drone strike targeted a car in the southern town of Kfar Dajjal on Tuesday, killing one person, media reports said.

Despite a November 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah, Israel maintains troops in five areas in southern Lebanon and has kept up regular air strikes.

Israeli opposition chief Yair Lapid has called for a “powerful military operation” against Hezbollah, Lebanese media reports said on Tuesday.

LBCI television meanwhile reported that Israel’s opposition and governing coalition have reached a rare consensus that the situation with Lebanon has reached a point of no return and that another round of war is only a matter of time.

Although the Israeli army “has so far refrained from carrying out strikes in Beirut, no place will be immune if Hezbollah keeps boosting its capabilities,” senior Israeli sources told the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday said Hezbollah “has fully committed to the ceasefire agreement” with Israel.

Berri added that the Lebanese Army has deployed in the South Litani region with more than 9,000 soldiers and officers, noting that the army can deploy up to the international border but pointing out that “what is obstructing that is the continued Israeli occupation of vast parts of southern Lebanese territory.”

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack has reportedly suggested that President Joseph Aoun should pick up the phone and call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in order to settle the outstanding issues between Lebanon and Israel.

According to media reports, Barrack voiced his remarks in a meeting with journalists in Turkey.

President Joseph Aoun announced Tuesday that negotiations with Israel are a “unanimous Lebanese choice.”