TEL AVIV — Israel’s military ground operation in southern Lebanon has been expanded, the country’s defense minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday.

Katz did not clarify when the decision to expand operations was taken and did not offer any details on what the expansion entails. Israel launched what it described as a “limited ground operation” to expel Hezbollah from southern Lebanon early last month.

“We have expanded the ground maneuver in southern Lebanon and we are operating against Hezbollah targets in the Dahiyeh district in Beirut and wherever necessary,” Katz told soldiers during his first visit to Israel’s Northern Command.

There were nearly 20 Israeli airstrikes against what the Israeli military described as Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The newly appointed defense minister maintained that Israel will not agree to “any ceasefires.”

“We will not take our foot off the pedal,” Katz said, adding that Israel will not “agree to any deal that does not ensure the disarmament of Hezbollah and its withdrawal across the Litani River – and especially Israel’s right to enforce ... and act against any terrorist activity and organization.”

The Litani river is some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Israel’s northern border.

Despite the Israeli ground operation into southern Lebanon, Hezbollah has maintained a daily barrage of rockets against parts of northern Israel and continues to launch drones against Israeli cities. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said around 50 projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel on Wednesday.

Hezbollah on Wednesday said it had carried out at least 20 attacks against Israel and its troops in Lebanon with drones, missiles, and rockets, saying its actions were “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip ... and in defense of Lebanon and its people.”

Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Wednesday praised the militant group’s fighters for their support in a handwritten letter published online. The letter comes after the group’s members expressed support over the weekend for his leadership. Qassem was named the group’s new leader in late October, a month after his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike.

Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon continues to exact a heavy toll on civilians. Airstrikes on several towns across Lebanon have killed at least 20 children since Sunday, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

In the town of Joun in southern Lebanon, at least eight children were killed on Tuesday, the ministry said. A separate attack on Tuesday killed at two children in Baalchmay, southeast of Beirut.

On Wednesday, an Israeli attack in the village of Dawhet Aramoun, south of Beirut, left three children dead. On Sunday, an Israeli strike in the village of Aalmat, north of Beirut, left seven children dead. CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on the strikes.

The number of children killed in Lebanon over the past 50 days now accounts for 80% of all children killed in the past year, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said Wednesday in a post on X.

“Children in Lebanon are enduring the deadliest phase of this war,” he added.

As of Tuesday, at least 2,683 people had been killed and 12,144 injured in Lebanon since mid-September when Israel stepped up its campaign against Hezbollah, according to a CNN tally of health ministry figures. The health ministry numbers do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Katz’s announcement about expanding Israel’s ground operation also comes as the military confirmed the death of six Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. This marks one of the deadliest days for Israeli troops in Lebanon since the start of the ground incursion on October 1. The deadliest day so far was on October 2, when eight soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon.

Those killed on Wednesday were all from the Golani brigade – regarded as an elite infantry unit – and included a platoon commander, a squad commander, a squad sergeant, and three soldiers, the IDF said.

At least 41 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon since the start of Israel’s ground incursion on October 1, according to a CNN tally of the IDF figures. At least 792 Israeli soldiers have been killed, including 373 killed inside the Gaza Strip, since Hamas’s deadly attacks on the country on October 7, 2023, according to the IDF. — CNN