TEL AVIV, April 9. /TASS/. Chief of the Israeli General Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited an area in southern Lebanon where he held an operational briefing and approved plans to continue combat operations against Hezbollah on the territory of Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) press service said.

The briefing was held on the outskirts of the Lebanese settlement of Bint Jbeil, where he discussed the progress of military operations with the military.

"The primary arena of our fighting is here in Lebanon. We continue to deepen the ground operations and continue to strike Hezbollah," the general was quoted as saying.

Overnight to March 2, northern Israel came under fire from Lebanon. Hezbollah claimed responsibility, stating the rockets fired at Israeli territory were in retaliation for the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Following this, the Israeli Air Force began launching massive strikes on Lebanese territory. The stated goal is the creation of a buffer zone south of the Litani River in Southern Lebanon to protect Israeli northern settlements from shelling. Israeli authorities have previously announced their intention to completely demolish all Lebanese border villages and have prohibited hundreds of thousands of local residents evacuated to northern Lebanon from returning home.

The day before, the Israeli army announced the most powerful series of strikes on Lebanon since the start of the campaign. Within 10 minutes, Israeli Air Force fighter jets attacked more than 100 targets in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon. Iran called this a violation of the ceasefire agreements reached the day before. Tehran stated that they also implied a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon. Israel claims that the truce agreement did not include Lebanon.