New evacuations in Lebanon even as Israel says ‘no territorial ambitions’

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.