IDF launches new ground offensive & airstrikes against Hezbollah after PM Netanyahu orders to ‘step on the gas’

US official: ‘Israel not expected to absorb attacks, this isn’t the Biden administration’

All Israel News Staff | Published: May 26, 2026

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a security consultation with Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, at Defense Headquarters in Tel Aviv, May 26, 2026. (Photo: Ma’ayan Toaf/GPO)

The Israeli military carried out a broad wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah overnight, and troops launched a new ground operation on Tuesday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to growing criticism of a perceived lack of action against the terror group by vowing that the IDF would “step on the gas.”

Channel 12 News reported Tuesday afternoon that the military censor greenlit a report that IDF troops had advanced beyond the ceasefire line in southern Lebanon as part of a new offensive.

Despite the ceasefire ostensibly continuing, Netanyahu stressed that Israel “is at war with Hezbollah” in a video statement on Monday evening, noting that Israeli troops had killed over 600 terrorists in Lebanon in recent weeks.

In the past few days, Netanyahu was faced with criticism from the military and within his coalition to allow the military to escalate its strikes, amid the mounting number of drone attacks on troops and northern Israeli towns by Hezbollah. The prime minister had reportedly ordered restraint following pressure from Washington, so as not to endanger the parallel talks with Iran.

However, Netanyahu said Monday that Israel would now “step on the gas even more” and “beat them badly.” Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official stressed that Hezbollah was at fault for the escalation, vowing that “Israel will never be expected to passively absorb attacks on its forces and civilians. This is not the Biden administration.”

In a briefing given to several media outlets in the U.S. and Israel, the official said that “Hezbollah has ignored repeated requests to stop firing at Israel, including a recent ultimatum,” noting the terror group has fired over 1,000 drones and 700 rockets at Israel over the past weeks.

“It broke the ceasefire on March 2 and is now intent on denying the Lebanese people a path to peace and reconstruction,” the official said, accusing it of trying to derail Beirut-Jerusalem talks due to concern that a deal would strip it of its “power and narrative.”

Soon after Netanyahu’s statement, the Israeli Air Force began a large-scale operation to strike over 100 Hezbollah infrastructure sites and terrorists across southern Lebanon as well as in the Bekaa Valley – though not in the Dahiyeh district, Hezbollah’s most important stronghold in the Lebanese capital.

According to Army Radio, the IDF has not attacked in the area for twenty days, “under orders from the political echelon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, and in submission to the American dictate of U.S. President Donald Trump on the issue,” as per military correspondent Doron Kadosh.

“In several strikes in the Bekaa Valley, terrorist infrastructure sites were struck, including a Hezbollah weapons storage facility. In southern Lebanon, more than 90 weapons storage facilities, command centers, observation posts, and infrastructure sites used by Hezbollah terrorists to advance attacks against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians were struck,” the military said.

According to data from Lebanon’s health ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and terrorists, the death toll from Israeli strikes reached 3,185 people since fighting restarted in March.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office said he held a security consultation with Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir at the IDF headquarters, indicating that more operations were being planned.

Another indication was media reports that the military began mobilizing additional reserve forces through emergency call-up orders overnight, focusing on combat soldiers who were released from mandatory service only recently.

According to the newspaper Maariv, soldiers were told their surprising mobilization came as part of preparations for an offensive in Lebanon and increased activity beyond the ceasefire lines.

Lebanese media reported Tuesday that the IDF had launched at least one new ground raid over the Litani River, though there was no confirmation from the Israeli side by the time of publication.

In his video statement, Netanyahu had acknowledged the threat from Hezbollah’s first-person view (FPV) drones, which have confounded Israeli air defenses in recent weeks, killing seven soldiers, wounding dozens more and increasingly managing to penetrate Israeli territory.

“We have a special team working on this, and we will solve this too,” Netanyahu vowed. His statement followed after an IDF official had told Channel 12 News earlier that Israel was currently “defenseless” against the FPV drones, which are hard to detect and immune to electronic jamming.

“Right now we are standing helpless in the face of a deadly reality, a real roulette. There are improvised solutions on the battlefield — and improvisation without solutions on the political level. Soldiers are dying because they are acting against their instinct to engage the enemy and are focusing on defense, civilians and property have become easy targets with low cost and simple execution.”

The official implicitly blamed instructions from Netanyahu, saying that “the truth is that our hands are tied and this must change now. As the days pass, Hezbollah allows itself more and more with zero effort and maximum lethality. Something must change — not today, yesterday, long ago. It will take time to bring protection solutions, and until then what?”