A bomb dropped from an Israeli jet is shown just as it is about to hit a building in Tayouneh, Beirut, Lebanon, on Nov. 15, 2024. (AP file photo)

BEIRUT — Israeli jets struck several towns in southern Lebanon on Thursday after urging residents to leave, marking an escalation in their near-daily strikes on the country.

The airstrikes came hours after militant group Hezbollah urged the Lebanese government not to enter negotiations with Israel.

Israeli Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned residents in Tayba near the border, Teir Debba located just east of the coastal city of Tyre, and Aita al-Jabal in southern Lebanon, to flee about 1,600 feet away from residential buildings they are targeting, which they say have been used by Hezbollah. It later issued more warnings for the towns of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah and Kfar Dounin.

The Israeli military said it targeted military infrastructure for Hezbollah in those areas, including “weapons storage facilities… constructed in the center of civilian-populated areas.”

It accused the group of rebuilding its capabilities almost a year after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire went into effect that ended a monthslong war. While most residents evacuated the threatened areas ahead of the strikes, Lebanon’s health ministry reported one person wounded.

“We will not allow Hezbollah to rearm themselves, to recover, build back up its strength to threaten the state of Israel,” Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said at a briefing Thursday.

The strikes came as Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and his government met in Beirut to follow up on a plan drafted by the Lebanese military to disarm Hezbollah and other non-state armed groups in the country. Information Minister Paul Morcos said, following the meeting, that the cabinet “commended the progress (the army) has made… despite continued obstacles, foremost among which is the continuation of Israeli hostilities.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has been critical of Israel’s strikes and ongoing occupation of five hilltop points on Lebanese territory but has said he is open to negotiations with Israel to end the tensions.

Aoun said in a statement after Thursday’s strikes that “every time Lebanon expresses its openness to peaceful negotiations… Israel intensifies its aggression.”

“Nearly a year has passed since the ceasefire came into effect, and during that time, Israel has spared no effort to demonstrate its rejection of any negotiated settlement between the two countries,” he said. “Your message has been received.”

Israel says its near-daily strikes have targeted Hezbollah officials and military infrastructure, while the Lebanese government that has backed disarming Hezbollah say the strikes have targeted civilians and infrastructure unrelated to the Iran-backed group.

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Associated Press journalist Areej Hazboun in Jerusalem contributed to this report.