Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir noted Thursday that "the Lebanese government is not imposing its authority" against Hezbollah and that his army "will do so.'

Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji on Thursday summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires in Lebanon, after the Lebanese government decided to protest a declaration by Iran's Revolutionary Guard about a joint operation with Hezbollah against Israel.

Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei thanked Tehran's allied armed groups across the region including in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen on Thursday.

"I also express my sincere gratitude to the fighters of the 'Resistance Front'," Khamenei said in a statement read by a news anchor on state television, referring to the Houthis in Yemen, Lebanon's Hezbollah as well as allied groups in Iraq.

Israeli strikes targeted Thursday several towns in south Lebanon including Haris, Kafra, Alma al-Shaab-Naqoura, Deir Ntar, Barish, Yater, Qantara, Qaaqaiyyet al-Jesser, Teffahta, Qana, al-Sultanieh, Taybeh, Qabrikha and Kfardounin.

In east Lebanon, Israeli strikes targeted Qsarnaba and Douris after warning residents to evacuate.

Five people were killed and seven were wounded, including children, in an Israeli attack in Aramoun, a town about 10 kilometers south of Beirut and outside of Hezbollah's traditional strongholds.

The strike hit an apartment in a residential area.

The Israeli military said Wednesday that it had launched a new wave of strikes on Hezbollah targets in the southern Beirut suburbs, vowing to act with "great force" in the area.

The military said it had begun a "large-scale wave of strikes" on Hezbollah infrastructure in Dahiyeh, the Lebanese capital's southern suburb, where the Iran-backed group holds sway.

U.S. President Donald Trump Wednesday commented on the situation in Lebanon amid the current hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

"We're working on it very hard. We love Lebanon. We love the people of Lebanon and we're working very hard. We've gotta get rid of ... Hezbollah has been a disaster for many years," said Trump in response to a question from MTV's reporter in Washington.

Israeli air raids continued Wednesday in southern and eastern Lebanon and south Beirut.

Strikes targeted many regions across Lebanon including Haret Hreik and Hay al-Amerkan in Dahieh, Harabta and Bouday in Bekaa, and the southern towns of Zebqine, Touline, Qabrikha, Shaqra, Majdal Selem, Hanaway, Habboush-Arabsalim, Tayr Harfa and al-Hmairi.

The head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, and reportedly the group's deputy chief, MP Mohammad Raad, has said that his party wants "real peace" in Lebanon and not a "surrender" imposed by Israel, calling on the government to take Hezbollah's stances into consideration.

Army chief General Rodolphe Haykal visited the southern town of Qlayaa by helicopter on Wednesday to offer condolences over the death of the town's priest by Israeli fire.

Residents of the town later expelled Change MP Elias Jradeh after he arrived to offer condolences. Jradeh, who has a leftist past, is known for supporting resistance against Israel but he is not affiliated with Hezbollah.