Kamal Ghorui
Israeli soldiers drive through southern Lebanon, as seen from northern Israel. (AP)
Israel on Tuesday said it was not seeking to take territory in Lebanon, as its military issued a wave of new evacuation warnings for towns and villages in the battle-scarred south. Israel has been fighting Hezbollah since early March, sending troops into south Lebanon to battle the Iran-backed militant group, with the violence ongoing despite a shaky April 17 ceasefire. “Israel has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon. Our presence… serves one purpose: protecting our citizens,” foreign minister Gideon Saar told a news conference. “No country would be willing to live in such a way with a gun pointed to its head,” he said, as the military pressed its operations in Lebanon against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
