Hezbollah can deter Israel and protect Lebanon, in case Israel decides to expand the war, a member of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc said, as Israel said it is considering a wider military operation to allow its northern residents to return home.

Hezbollah MP Raed Berro said Monday that the militant group "is ready for confrontation and has a lot in its pocket to deter the enemy and protect Lebanon in case Netanyahu thinks of expanding the war."

Three people were killed Tuesday and two others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on the southern border town of Blida, the Health Ministry said.

An Israeli drone also raided the al-Litani river in Zawtar el-Gharbeye.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday expanded the country's goals for the war in Gaza, vowing to allow Israelis who fled areas near the Lebanon border to return to their homes.

Nearly a year after Hamas's October 7 attack sparked war in the Gaza Strip, cross-border fire has been traded almost daily between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, which says it is supporting its Palestinian ally.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday told visiting U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein that a "fundamental change" was needed after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Displaced residents of the border area would not be able to return home "without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north" and Israel "will do what is necessary to ensure its security," Netanyahu told Hochstein, according to a statement from the Israeli leader's office.

Israeli reports indicate that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant opposes a major military operation against Lebanon at this time, as a senior Israeli army commander is actively pushing for a ground offensive, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appearing, at least outwardly, to back the demand for an operation and even threatening once again to fire his defense minister.

The Kan public broadcaster and Channel 13 news both report that Northern Command chief Ori Gordin is pressuring decision-makers to launch a large-scale attack, while Gallant and Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi are far more reserved.

Israel’s top general commanding the restive northern frontier has reportedly begun actively lobbying leaders to okay a ground offensive into southern Lebanon with the goal of securing a buffer zone and halting Hezbollah’s attacks on Israeli settlements in the Galilee, amid disagreements over the matter among politicians and defense brass.

Lebanese novelist Elias Khoury who dedicated much of his writings to the Palestinian cause and taught at universities around the world, making him one of Lebanon's most prominent intellectuals, has died. He was 76.

Khoury, a leading voice of Arab literature, had been ill for months and admitted and discharged from hospital several times over the past year until his death early Sunday, Al-Quds Al-Arabi daily that he worked for said.

Israel dropped leaflets over a Lebanon border village Sunday urging residents to leave, state-run media said, but Israel's military told AFP a brigade had taken the initiative without approval.

It was the first time Israelis had told residents of south Lebanon to evacuate in 11 months of cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israel over the Gaza war, triggered by Hezbollah ally Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel.

Israel’s defense minister has told his U.S. counterpart that time is running out for an agreement with Hezbollah to halt the fighting along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Yoav Gallant told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that “the possibility for an agreed framework in the northern arena is running out as Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the current situation on the border with Lebanon is not sustainable.

"The existing situation will not continue. We will do everything necessary to return our residents safely to their homes," he said during a weekly Cabinet meeting.