IF ISRAEL’S ceasefire with Hezbollah collapses, the country’s military will widen its strikes and target the Lebanese state itself, Defence Minister Israel Katz warned today.

He was speaking after Hezbollah and other observers alleged that Israel had been responsible for multiple violations of the 60-day truce.

The day before, Tel Aviv’s military carried out a wave of air strikes that killed nearly a dozen people after Hezbollah had fired a volley of projectiles as a warning to Israel to stop violating the ceasefire.

Speaking to troops on his country’s northern border today, Mr Katz said that any violations of the agreement would be met with “a maximum response and zero tolerance.”

He also warned that Israel would widen its strikes beyond the areas where Hezbollah activities are concentrated.

Lebanese parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri accused Israel of violating the truce more than 50 times by launching air strikes, demolishing homes near the border and violating Lebanon’s airspace. 

Mr Berri helped mediate the ceasefire.

Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel last year in solidarity with Palestinians under attack by Israeli forces. 

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led fighters staged a cross-border incursion on October 7 lasts year, during which 1,139 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage.

Israel’s retaliation has killed at least 44,502 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children.

Meanwhile, Palestinian officials said today that Fatah and Hamas are close to an agreement to appoint a committee of politically independent technocrats to administer the Gaza Strip after the war. 

The arrangement would effectively end Hamas rule.

Israel has ruled out any postwar role in Gaza for either Hamas or Fatah, which dominates the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority.

A Palestinian Authority official confirmed today that an agreement had been reached following weeks of negotiations in Cairo. The official said the committee would have 12-15 members, most of them from Gaza.

It would report to the Palestinian Authority, which is headquartered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and work with local and international parties to facilitate humanitarian assistance and reconstruction.

A Hamas official said that Hamas and Fatah had agreed on the general terms but were still negotiating over some of the details and which individuals would serve on the committee. 

An agreement will be announced after a meeting of all Palestinian factions in Cairo, the official said without providing a timeline.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity. 

There was no immediate comment from Israel.