Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said that Israel is in a “strong position” to demand that Hezbollah withdraw from the area south of the Litani River.

The Israeli army will expand ground operations and airstrikes in Lebanon if there is no ceasefire deal soon, Israel’s Channel 12 has reported.

The Lebanese Red Cross will send another convoy Tuesday to Wata al-Khiam in southern Lebanon to search for and remove the bodies of 15 people killed in an Israeli airstrike, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.

Paramedics accessed the site of the strike two days prior and removed five other bodies, but needed to return with larger vehicles to remove the rubble. The NNA said the deployment is in coordination with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, which is the usual procedure.

Top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken has held phone talks with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the situations in Gaza and Lebanon.

In his call with Gallant, Blinken discussed "ongoing efforts to reach a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon that allows both Lebanese and Israeli civilians to return safely to their homes," the U.S. State Department said.

The 13-month war between Israel and Hezbollah has killed more than 3,000 people in Lebanon, the country's Health Ministry said, more than double the number of people killed since their last major war two decades ago.

The war shows no signs of ending, and Israel has said it is carrying out new operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure across Lebanon and in parts of Syria while Hezbollah continues to launch dozens of rockets into northern Israel.

Footage verified by AFP on Monday showed massive detonations in a southern Lebanese border village, where a local official said hundreds of houses have been wiped out by Israel since last year.

Ayman Jaber's memories are rooted in every corner of Mhaibib, the village in southern Lebanon he refers to as his "habibti," the Arabic word for "beloved." The root of the village's name means "the lover" or "the beloved."

Reminiscing about his childhood sweetheart, the 45-year-old avionics technician talks about how the young pair would meet in a courtyard near his uncle's house.

Syria’s state news agency reported an Israeli airstrike on a southern suburb of the Syrian capital of Damascus, saying it caused material damage but not casualties.

SANA says the Monday airstrike hit near the suburb of Sayida Zeinab. Iran-backed groups are active in the area south of the capital, which is home to a holy Shiite Muslim shrine.

A Lebanese ship captain abducted by Israeli special forces may have been acting as a double agent, Britain’s The Telegraph newspaper has suggested.

Israel is preparing arrangements to end the war on Lebanon’s front withing two weeks, Israel’s Channel 12 has reported.