An IDF video shows Hezbollah terrorists rearming in the village of Beit Lif in southern Lebanon. Israel claims the terror group continues to embed itself in civilian areas. (@LTC_Shoshani/IDF Spokesma

The Israeli military stepped up airstrikes in south Lebanon on Wednesday, killing at least one person as it pressed a campaign of near-daily attacks which it says is designed to block a military revival by Iran-backed Hezbollah in the border area.

The escalation against Hezbollah comes amid the group’s ongoing efforts to block its disarmament and disrupt any diplomatic initiative toward broader Israeli-Lebanese peace talks. President Trump, in his speech before the Knesset,

Lebanese officials are sending mixed messages: a senior figure talks about Hezbollah’s “right” to rearm, while President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam insist the group’s arsenal must eventually fall under state control.

The United States seeks to take advantage of a "moment" in Lebanon in which it can cut Iranian funding to Hezbollah and press the group to disarm, the U.S. Treasury Department's top sanctions official said.

Washington canceled a planned visit by Lebanon’s army commander Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, signaling growing US frustration over Lebanon’s delay in disarming Hezbollah.

The US is ready to back Lebanon’s army to help implement a plan to disarm militant groups, which was announced in August but has yet to make tangible progress amid a spat with the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah.

A Lebanese man has gone on trial in Celle, northern Germany, accused of being a member of Hezbollah - a Shia Muslim group whose military wing is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the EU.