‘Will change situation in the North’: Netanyahu on expanding Lebanon offensive

Islamabad: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that Israel will widen its invasion of southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu said Israel would expand what he called the "existing security strip" in Lebanon as Israeli forces continue to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group.

"We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north," he said on a visit to northern Israel, adding that "Hezbollah still has residual capability to fire rockets at us."

There were no immediate details.

In Lebanon, officials say more than 1,100 people have been killed in the fighting since the Iran war began.

Meanwhile, the speaker of Iran's parliament accused the United States of plotting a ground attack despite publicly pushing for a negotiated deal, after a US warship with around 3,500 military personnel arrived in the Middle East.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf's comments came after more than a month of aerial bombardments of Iran by US and Israeli forces, and as key regional players held talks in Pakistan.

The war has escalated into a regional conflagration as Iran has retaliated with attacks on Gulf states and the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, sending energy markets into a tailspin and threatening the world economy.

"The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation and dialogue while secretly planning a ground attack," Ghalibaf said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.

"Our men are waiting for the arrival of the American soldiers on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional allies once and for all," he added.