Israel’s military said Wednesday it carried out attacks targeting Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon after dozens of rockets were fired at Israel.
The military said Israeli air defenses intercepted some of the 65 rockets, while others fell in open areas.
Fighting along the Israel-Lebanon border has raised fears of a widening regional conflict amid the war between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Family members of some of the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza protested Wednesday outside the Tel Aviv headquarters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.
The family members chanted slogans in favor of the Israeli government reaching a cease-fire deal with Hamas that includes the release of hostages.
The demonstration followed pressure Tuesday by the United States calling on Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire.
"There are dozens of hostages still remaining in Gaza, still waiting for a deal that will bring them home. It is time to finalize that deal," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters after Israeli forces found six hostages over the weekend that Hamas had shot to death in a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
"The people of Israel cannot afford to wait any longer. The Palestinian people, who are also suffering the terrible effects of this war, cannot afford to wait any longer. The world cannot afford to wait any longer," Miller said.
He said that the United States will work "over the coming days" with mediators Egypt and Qatar "to push for a final agreement."
One key point of contention in the negotiations has been Netanyahu's insistence that Israeli troops remain at the border between Gaza and Egypt.
But Miller said the U.S. is opposed “to the long-term presence” of Israeli troops in Gaza.
The State Department spokesman said that reaching a cease-fire and release of the 100 or so remaining hostages “will require both sides to show flexibility. It will require that both sides look for reasons to get to yes rather than reasons to say no."
Netanyahu has refused to agree to a cease-fire deal calling for an Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza that would lead to a permanent halt to the fighting — for fear that Hamas could rearm itself and endanger Israel’s long-term security.
Hamas has accused Israel of dragging out negotiations by issuing new demands, including that Israel remain in control of the Philadelphi corridor and a second corridor running across Gaza.
Hamas has held to the broad agreements of a three-phase plan put forth by the U.S. administration of President Joe Biden in July: Hamas would release all hostages in return for an end to the war, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages during the October 7 terror attack on southern Israel. The Israeli counteroffensive has killed nearly 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to Gaza health officials, while the Israeli military says the death toll includes several thousand Hamas combatants.
Hamas has been designated a terror group by the U.S., the U.K. and other Western countries.
VOA’s Nike Ching contributed to this report. Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
