The death toll in Lebanon from Israeli attacks has risen to 3,371, with 10,129 others injured, since March 2, said the country's health ministry on Saturday.
Israeli airstrikes and drone attacks across southern Lebanon late Friday and into Saturday killed at least 15 people and wounded several others, according to the ministry.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Sunday that they are carrying out strikes on Hezbollah's infrastructure in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre and several other areas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he had instructed the military to deepen and expand its grip on Lebanese areas held by Hezbollah.
The instruction followed the capture of the Beaufort Ridge, including the strategic castle at its summit, in southern Lebanon by Israeli forces, an area beyond the "security zone" Israel has maintained since a ceasefire took effect in mid-April.
The current objective is to consolidate control over these captured positions, he said, calling the seizure of the Beaufort "a dramatic stage and a dramatic shift in the policy we are leading."
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the same day that the Israeli army will remain stationed at the strategic Beaufort Castle as part of the "security zone."
Katz also said that taking control of the castle and expanding ground military operations sent a message to the opponents -- "whoever threatens the citizens of Israel will lose their strategic assets one after another."
On Friday, the negotiations between the military delegations of Lebanon and Israel in Washington D.C., the Unite States, failed to reach a ceasefire agreement.
Lebanese death toll from Israeli attacks rises to 3,371
Lebanese death toll from Israeli attacks rises to 3,371
