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Israel said its military had been instructed to use "full force" against threats in Lebanon despite a truce, and vowed to level homes allegedly used by Hezbollah, with state media reporting demolitions were underway on Sunday.

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Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UyDyjF9wLOc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span>BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israel said its military had been instructed to use &quot;full force&quot; against threats in Lebanon despite a truce, and vowed to level homes allegedly used by Hezbollah, with state media reporting demolitions were underway on Sunday.</div><p>Some displaced residents have rushed back to their homes in the south but others are hesitant, uncertain about the durability of the 10-day truce that came into effect on Friday, halting weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.</p><p>In the village of Dibbine, an AFP correspondent saw a man inspecting damage to his home and people walking near the rubble of destroyed buildings.</p><p>In Srifa, another correspondent saw people unloading belongings including mattresses and a washing machine as they returned to the southern village.</p><p>Elsewhere, an AFP correspondent saw people travelling away from the south after retrieving belongings from their homes.</p><p>Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the army &quot;to act with full force, both on the ground and from the air, including during the ceasefire, in order to protect our soldiers in Lebanon from any threat&quot;.</p><p>He said the military had also been ordered to demolish any structure or road that was &quot;booby-trapped&quot;, and &quot;to remove the houses in the contact villages near the border that served in every respect as Hezbollah terror outposts&quot;.</p><p>Lebanon&#x27;s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said that &quot;the Israeli enemy is still destroying what remains of houses&quot; in Bint Jbeil on Sunday after reporting demolitions a day earlier in the town, which saw heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah before the ceasefire.</p><p>The NNA also said the Israeli army was &quot;blowing up houses in Mais al-Jabal&quot; and &quot;carrying out a sweep operation and detonations&quot; in Deir Seryan, both also near the border, while the town of Kunin &quot;was subjected to enemy artillery shelling&quot;.</p><p>On Saturday, Israel&#x27;s military said it had established a &quot;Yellow Line&quot; in south Lebanon, similar to the one in Gaza that separates areas held by Israeli forces from those controlled by militant group Hamas.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Expansionism&#x27; -</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>On Sunday, the military published a map showing its &quot;forward defence line&quot; and an area in red stretching the length of the border where it said forces were operating to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure and &quot;prevent direct threats to communities in northern Israel&quot;.</p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=2045849634438885863&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2026-04-19T23%3A43%3A13.078112%3A36fb29a4-479a-461a-8aed-e64d96cbb79f%26action%3Dedit&amp;sessionId=f5e1e2382a2e26fe27ea5cdbc2ffd80782ab7f05&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:550px;height:673px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="2045849634438885863"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><p>It later said soldiers killed an &quot;armed terrorist&quot; who crossed the line.</p><p>Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday denounced what he called &quot;Israeli expansionism&quot; in Lebanon.</p><p>The truce took effect days after the first high-level meeting between Lebanon and Israel in decades, pausing a war that has killed nearly 2,300 people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million since erupting on March 2.</p><p>On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Paris in a visit aiming to demonstrate France&#x27;s support for Lebanon&#x27;s &quot;territorial integrity&quot;, the president&#x27;s office said.</p><p>Macron will also urge Lebanese authorities to prosecute those responsible for an attack on UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon on Saturday that killed a French soldier and wounded three others.</p><p>France and the UN force (UNIFIL) have blamed Hezbollah, which denied involvement.</p><p>A memorial ceremony was held at Beirut airport for the French peacekeeper, Florian Montorio, who UNIFIL said was &quot;posthumously awarded UN and Lebanese Army medals in recognition of his dedicated service for peace in south Lebanon&quot;.</p><p>Salam&#x27;s office said the premier would also travel to Luxembourg on Tuesday &quot;to meet EU foreign ministers&quot;.</p><p>Earlier Sunday, Lebanon&#x27;s military said it had reopened a road linking the city of Nabatiyeh with the Khardali area, and had partially reopened the Burj Rahal-Tyre bridge in the country&#x27;s south.</p><p>Israeli strikes on several bridges across the Litani River, which runs around 30 kilometres from the border, have limited access to the area.</p><p>nad-lg/smw</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SopAY6eSvLg?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wqM7WifiHgw?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q8yPAtpVYs4?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Israel said its military had been instructed to use "full force" against threats in Lebanon despite a truce, and vowed to level homes allegedly used by Hezbollah, with state media reporting demolitions were underway on Sunday.</p>

Israel vows to level homes in Lebanon, counter threats with 'full force'

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Israel vows to level homes in Lebanon, counter threats with 'full force'

Agence France-Presse

Published April 20, 2026 08:12 AM PHT

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Israel Katz

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