Shafaq News- Beirut

The Israeli army is preparing to expand its ground operations in Lebanon amid “continued Hezbollah violations,” Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Monday, as airstrikes and artillery shelling intensified across southern Lebanon and the western Beqaa.

An Israeli military helicopter also experienced a technical malfunction during an operation to evacuate wounded troops from southern Lebanon. Israeli media suggested that a system allegedly deployed by Hezbollah fighters against drones may have contributed to the malfunction, forcing the aircraft to remain grounded until recovery teams secured it. However, the army denied that the helicopter “came under enemy fire.”

Lebanese media reported continued Israeli strikes targeting multiple areas in the Nabatieh, Tyre, Bint Jbeil, and western Beqaa districts, including artillery shelling and drone attacks.

In the town of Zibdine, a drone strike reportedly killed two people while they were distributing bread to residents using a municipal vehicle. Another airstrike in the southern town of Abba killed a 78-year-old woman and her 11-year-old grandson after the house they were in collapsed, while four other civilians, including the boy’s mother, were wounded.

Lebanese authorities have recorded more than 8,500 Israeli raids since March 2, which, according to the Health Ministry, have killed 2,869 people and injured 8,730 others, including women and children.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, said its fighters targeted an Israeli Merkava tank in the town of Reshaf with a “suicide drone,” claiming a direct hit. The group characterized the attack as “a response to Israeli ceasefire violations and strikes on southern Lebanese villages that caused civilian casualties.”

The group’s fighters, it added, launched a surface-to-air missile at an Israeli military drone over the Tyre area, citing Israeli violations of the Lebanese airspace.

On the Israeli side, the army confirmed the death of a soldier in a drone explosion targeting forces near the Manara border area, raising the number of Israeli troops killed since March 2 to 18.