Live updates: US military ready to resume combat in Gulf if needed, US defense secretary warns

The Israeli military has said it is preparing for attacks from Lebanon toward northern Israel as its troops advance further into southern Lebanon in operations against Hezbollah.

Despite the US-mediated ceasefire agreed by the governments of Israel and Lebanon in April, clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces have intensified.

The Israel Defense Forces urged people in northern Israel to remain vigilant on Saturday after saying it had recorded 20 launches from Lebanon since midnight. Some projectiles were intercepted and others fell in open land; no injuries were reported.

​Hezbollah said on Saturday it had fired rockets at the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona “in defense of Lebanon and its people, and in response to the Israeli enemy’s violation of the ceasefire.”

Altogether, Hezbollah claimed 14 attacks Saturday: 12 in southern Lebanon and two inside Israel.

The IDF re-issued evacuation warnings on Saturday to residents of 13 villages, ordering people to move north of the Zahrani river, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the border.

The intensifying combat between Israel and Hezbollah may put at risk any agreement between the United States and Iran, which is insisting that it include a ceasefire in Lebanon. US President Donald Trump told Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week that he supported its “freedom of action against threats on all fronts, including Lebanon,” an Israeli official told CNN.

Netanyahu said Friday that Israeli forces had crossed Lebanon’s Litani River, which runs around 30 kilometers (about 19 miles) north of the countries’ border.

Response from Lebanon: Meanwhile on Saturday, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Israel of “not only targeting specific areas, but … carrying out a policy of comprehensive destruction and practicing mass displacement” inside the country.

This post has been updated with developments.