An Israeli airstrike on a village in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley killed 12 people, state media said Tuesday, as an Israeli official said the military had called up more troops to Lebanon. The strike hit the village of Mashghara late Monday, according to the state-run National News Agency. It came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he had authorized more intensive strikes targeting Hezbollah across Lebanon. The Israeli military said Monday that it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in eastern Lebanon. An Israeli security official said the military had called up an additional battalion to Lebanon. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, The Associated Press reported. Rescue workers say that a dozen bodies were pulled out of the rubble following an intense wave of overnight strikes targeting swaths of southern and eastern Lebanon. The intensified attacks come three days before Lebanese and Israeli military delegations are set to meet in Washington for direct talks. Hezbollah is attacking Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and northern Israeli towns, and has vowed to continue fighting until Israel stops its daily airstrikes and withdraws its troops from the country. In recent weeks, Hezbollah has boasted that it is using new fiber-optic drones that Israeli troops have struggled to intercept, hitting both Israeli troops and northern border villages. Israel has updated its defensive guidelines in line with the recent developments in its northern areas, telling people not to gather in large numbers. “What this requires of us now is to increase the blows, to increase the intensity. We will smite them hip and thigh,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on social media Monday ahead of the strikes. Hezbollah said it staged several attacks Monday on three barracks and a military post in northern Israel "in response to the violation of the ceasefire" by Israel. The group claimed responsibility for at least four drone attacks on the Shomera barracks, as well as attacks on two barracks in towns in northern Israel, and another on a military post in Misgav Am, carried out around midday at short intervals.
