The Israeli military issued new evacuation warnings for more than 20 towns and villages in southern Lebanon on Monday, the latest indication that its conflict with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was deepening, despite apparently intensifying efforts to reach a cease-fire.
The widespread warnings across the country’s south, the first in nearly a month, were issued via social media and called on civilians to immediately evacuate their homes and move north above the Awali River, farther from the Israeli border. The river effectively demarcates southern Lebanon, which Israel invaded last month in a bid to destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure and stop it from firing rockets and missiles into Israel.
The latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began last year, when Hezbollah started its cross-border assaults in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza, forcing tens of thousands of Israelis to leave their homes in northern Israel. The conflict has significantly escalated in recent weeks, setting off a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon. Nearly 3,200 people have been killed and more than a fifth of the Lebanese population has been displaced.
Israel’s new foreign minister, Gideon Saar, signaled on Monday that renewed U.S.-brokered diplomatic efforts were underway to stem the conflict.
“There is progress,” said Mr. Saar, speaking at a news conference. “The main challenge eventually will be to enforce what will be agreed.”
The head of Hezbollah’s media office, Mohammed Afif, said on Monday that the group had not yet received any proposals on a cease-fire deal in Lebanon, but that there had been “contacts between Washington, Moscow, Tehran and other capitals” on the issue since the re-election of Donald J. Trump last week as president.
“Nothing official has reached Lebanon or us,” Mr. Afif said at a news conference in the Dahiya, the area adjoining Beirut where the armed group holds sway.
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