Israel is intensifying its strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon despite the progression of US-Iran talks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed.

Washington is pressing forward with nuclear talks with Tehran. Negotiators have described a framework as roughly 95% complete, a timeline that appears to be shaping Israeli operational calculus, with Netanyahu seeking to consolidate military gains before any agreement constrains room for manoeuvre.

Although an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is technically in effect, the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah have continued to trade blows across the border. Over 1mn people remain displaced in Lebanon, according to Lebanese government data. The Lebanese government, the EU, Denmark and France have jointly launched a €32mn recovery programme targeting conflict-affected areas in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

Meanwhile, on the Israeli side, senior IDF officers have complained that operational constraints tied to US-brokered negotiations with Lebanon have effectively tied their hands, leaving troops exposed to gunfire, IEDs and drone attacks without the ability to respond beyond a designated perimeter. Sergeant Nehorai Laizer, 19, from Eilat, became the 11th Israeli casualty since the ceasefire came into force when he was killed by an explosive drone strike on May 25, the seventh fatality attributed to such attacks, including six soldiers and one civilian.

Netanyahu confirmed at a press conference that he had ordered the military to "hit the gas," stating that Israeli forces had killed "more than 600 Hezbollah terrorists in the last few weeks."

"We will hit them. That's right, they are shooting drones at us, fibre drones. We have a dedicated team working on that, and we will resolve it as well. In the meantime, you are showing resilience," Netanyahu stated, while also deciding to "congratulate the residents of the north for a resilience that inspires all of us."

"But what this requires of us now is to increase the blows, to increase the force. We will hit them on the shin and thigh," the Israeli prime minister concluded.

The remarks came hours after The Jerusalem Post reported that IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir had told a Security Cabinet meeting that Israel should strike Beirut in response to Hezbollah's ongoing drone campaign against Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. On May 26, Kan News reported that the IDF had begun mobilising reserve forces to increase activity across the ceasefire line.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem claimed had made Israel "dizzy," citing multiple strikes against IDF officers. Meanwhile, the Hezbollah leader expressed a refusal to allow Hezbollah to disarm or cease military activities against Israeli forces.

“Disarmament is extermination, and this is something we cannot accept,” he said in a press statement. Hezbollah’s first-person view (FPV) drones have made Israel ‘dizzy,’” Qassem said in a press statement.