By Mohammed Tawfeeq and Lauren Izso, CNN

(CNN) – Israel’s military ground operation in southern Lebanon has been expanded, the country’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday.

Katz did not clarify when the decision to expand operations was made and did not provide any details on what the expansion entails. Israel launched what it described as “limited ground operation” to expel Hezbollah from southern Lebanon early last month.

“We have expanded the ground maneuver in southern Lebanon and are operating against Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district and wherever necessary,” Katz told soldiers during his first visit to Israel’s Northern Command.

There were nearly 20 Israeli airstrikes against what the Israeli military described as Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The newly appointed The defense minister claimed that Israel would not agree to “any ceasefire”.

“We will not take our foot off the pedal,” Katz said, adding that Israel would not “accept any deal that does not ensure Hezbollah’s disarmament and its withdrawal across the Litani River — and especially Israel’s right to enforce … and to act against any terrorist activity and organization.”

The Litani River is about 20 kilometers (12 mi) from Israel’s northern border.

Despite the Israeli ground operation in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah has maintained a daily rocket barrage against parts of northern Israel and continues to launch drones against Israeli cities. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Wednesday that Hezbollah had fired about 50 projectiles into Israel from Lebanon.

Hezbollah said on Wednesday it had carried out at least 20 attacks against Israel and its troops in Lebanon with drones, missiles and rockets, saying its actions were “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip … and in defense of Lebanon and his people.”

Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem on Wednesday praised the militant group’s fighters for their support. in a handwritten letter published online. The letter comes after members of the group expressed their support over the weekend for his leaderp. Qassem was named the new leader of the group in late October, a month after his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli attack.

Rising civilian toll

Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon continues to affect civilians. Since Sunday, airstrikes on several cities in Lebanon have killed at least 20 children, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

In the southern Lebanese town of Joun, at least eight children were killed on Tuesday, the ministry said. A separate attack on Tuesday killed two children in Baalchmay, southeast of Beirut.

On Wednesday, an Israeli attack in the village of Dawhet Aramoun, south of Beirut, killed three children. On Sunday, an Israeli strike in the village of Aalmat, north of Beirut, left seven children dead. CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on the strikes.

The number of children killed in Lebanon in the past 50 days now represents 80 percent of all children killed in the past year, UNICEF spokesman James Elder said in a post on X on Wednesday.

“The children of Lebanon are going through the deadliest phase of this war,” he added.

By Tuesday, at least 2,683 people had been killed and 12,144 wounded in Lebanon since mid-September as Israel stepped up its campaign against Hezbollah, according to a CNN tally of Health Ministry figures. The Ministry of Health figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Katz’s announcement of the expansion of Israel’s ground operation also comes as the army confirmed the death of six Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. It marks one of the deadliest days for Israeli troops in Lebanon since the ground incursion began on October 1. The deadliest day so far was on October 2 when eight soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon.

Those killed Wednesday were all from the Golani brigade — considered an elite infantry unit — and included a platoon commander, a squad commander, a squad sergeant and three soldiers, the IDF said.

At least 41 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon since Israel’s ground incursion began on October 1, according to a CNN tally of IDF figures. At least 792 Israeli soldiers have been killed, including 373 inside the Gaza Strip, since deadly Hamas attacks on the country since October 7, 2023, according to the IDF.

The-CNN-Wire
and © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. company. Discovery. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Jomana Karadsheh and Nechirvan Mando contributed to this report