File photo- Smoke billows during the Israeli bombardment on the village of Khiam in south Lebanon near the border with Israel, June 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions. AFP
"Operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved and validated" as commanders met for a situational assessment, the army said in a statement.
It came after Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz threatened Hezbollah's destruction in a "total war".
Total war
In a message for Eid al-Adha, US President Joe Biden has called for the implementation of a ceasefire plan in Gaza he outlined last month, saying it was "the best way to end the violence".
US envoy Amos Hochstein said the plan would ultimately lead to "the end of the conflict in Gaza" which would in turn quell fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
But Israel's top diplomat on Tuesday said: "We are very close to the moment when we will decide to change the rules of the game against Hezbollah and Lebanon."
"In a total war, Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will be hit hard," Katz said in a statement from his ministry.
It came after the Lebanese resistance goup published a more than nine-minute video showing drone footage purportedly taken by the movement over northern Israel, including parts of the city and port of Haifa.
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