Israel's recent attacks in Lebanon indicate its military will likely intensify operations in southern Lebanon while keeping strikes on Beirut selective, aiming to simultaneously appease U.S. President Donald Trump's administration while increasing pressure on Hezbollah and the Lebanese government but falling short of changing the strategic balance and complicating Lebanon-Israel and Iran-U.S. talks. For the first time in three weeks, on May 28 the Israeli military struck a building just south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, targeting a senior commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stationed in Lebanon to cooperate with Lebanese Hezbollah. Initial Israeli assessments concluded the attack failed to kill the intended target. A day earlier, the Israeli military declared large areas of southern Lebanon south of the Zahrani River a combat zone as Israeli ground incursions north of the Litani River continued. The Israel Defense Forces also carried out hundreds of airstrikes on major southern cities...
