Israel threatened to step up military strikes against Hezbollah and a senior US envoy warned Beirut that time was running out to disarm the Iranian-backed Lebanese faction.
An almost year-old ceasefire between the Middle East neighbors calmed what had been a second front to Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas, the Palestinian ally of Iran. The Nov. 27 deal, mediated by Washington, required that the Lebanese government and its army remove Hezbollah from areas near the Israeli border, and strip it of weaponry.