Katz threatens Lebanon with 'territorial losses,' Netanyahu requests list of 'civilian targets'

Israeli officials warned on Friday that Lebanon would face mounting consequences for "failing" to disarm Hezbollah, as airstrikes across Lebanon and on key infrastructure continued to escalate the war.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Lebanon would pay "an increasingly high price" for its delay in dismantling the militant group, threatening "territorial losses" and "infrastructure damage," according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.

To add, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went further, directing the Israeli military to compile a list of "civilian targets" in Lebanon to pressure the government, the public broadcaster Kan 11 reported.

On the 12th day of the renewed war between Hezbollah and Israel, Katz further said, "The Lebanese government misled and failed to uphold its commitment to disarm Hezbollah and will therefore pay a price until it fulfills that obligation." The disarmament plan references the Nov. 27, 2024, cease-fire agreement, for which the government had already passed a decision and started implementing in August of last year.

The remarks came after the Israeli army destroyed the Tayr Filsey bridge over the Litani River, a key crossing that links multiple villages in southern Lebanon to one another. The Israeli army justified it's bombing of this state infrastructure by claiming that it was used by Hezbollah members. "We are only at the beginning," Katz further threatened.

According to the Israeli broadcasting authority, the decision to bomb Tayr Filsey's bridge at dawn was made "by the Israeli political leadership," following recommendations from security agencies.

Netanyahu also requested that the army submits more civilian targets "for approval, to strike them and to pressure the Lebanese government to act against Hezbollah," according to Kan 11.

The Israeli army said it destroyed a bridge at Zrarieh, near Tayr Filsey, claiming it was "used as a central crossing point by Hezbollah militants ... to move from north to south Lebanon, deploy there and prepare for combat." The army also accused Hezbollah of positioning "rocket launchers near the bridge" that had recently been used in attacks.

Earlier Thursday, the Israeli military destroyed the Kantara bridge in the strategic Wadi Houjeir valley.

The strikes on bridges follow Israel’s threats to target civilian infrastructure as part of a phased plan preparing for a large-scale offensive in Lebanon. The first stage consists of bombing certain roads in the South and between the South and the Bekaa Valley, to isolate the region, before potentially expanding to more civilian infrastructure.