TEL AVIV, June 1. /TASS/. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed servicemen to begin striking targets belonging to the Shia group Hezbollah in the suburbs of Beirut, his office reported.

According to Tel Aviv, this is in response to Hezbollah’s violations of the ceasefire.

"In light of repeated ceasefire violations in Lebanon by the Hezbollah terrorist organization and attacks on our cities and citizens, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have ordered the Israel Defense Forces to strike terrorist targets in the Dahieh district of Beirut," the statement said.

Dahieh is a southern suburb of Beirut where Hezbollah is based.

Although a ceasefire has been in effect since April 17, the two sides have regularly exchanged strikes along the Lebanese-Israeli border. On May 25, Netanyahu said that he had ordered an intensification of strikes against Hezbollah targets in response to the increasing number of drone attacks on Israeli territory. On May 29, the prime minister reported that Israeli army units had advanced north of the Litani River in certain areas of southern Lebanon. On May 31, it was announced that the army had taken control of a strategic hilltop in the area where Beaufort Castle, built by the Crusaders in the Middle Ages, is located. The Israeli army previously controlled this strategically important site from 1982 to 2000.