Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck a Hezbollah facility and a tunnel belonging to the terror group near the Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon on Friday, the IDF said, with Defense Minister Israel Katz warning Beirut that it was responsible for reining in the terror group.

The military said that it had identified Hezbollah military activity at the site and that the existence of the facility was a violation of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

Following the strikes, Katz said Israel would continue to strike at all Hezbollah violations.

“We will not budge from our policy of maximum enforcement and will not allow threats to arise against the residents of the north and all citizens of Israel,” he said.

In a message to Lebanon’s new President Joseph Aoun, Katz said Israel views Beirut as “directly responsible for enforcing Lebanon’s sovereignty and upholding the ceasefire agreement.”

The Lebanese government has been working to disarm Hezbollah, but has sometimes been criticized for not doing so effectively. Critics of Israeli policy, however, argue that carrying out such strikes too regularly without allowing the Lebanese government to dismantle Hezbollah on its own may risk undermining the first-ever government that has expressed a genuine willingness to address the issue.

The strikes came hours after Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem vowed to fight government plans to disarm his group, with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accusing him of making “unacceptable” threats to unleash civil war.

Qassem gave a televised address after meeting with Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani, whose country has long backed and armed the Lebanese terror group.

Hezbollah emerged badly weakened from last year’s war with Israel, and the Lebanese government — under US pressure — has ordered the army to draw up a plan to disarm the group by the end of the year.

Iran, whose so-called axis of resistance includes Hezbollah, has also suffered a series of setbacks, most recently in its own war with Israel, which also saw the United States strike its nuclear facilities.

“The government is implementing an American-Israeli order to end the resistance, even if it leads to civil war and internal strife,” Qassem said.

“The resistance will not surrender its weapons while aggression continues, occupation persists, and we will fight it… If necessary to confront this American-Israeli project, no matter the cost.”

He urged the government “not to hand over the country to an insatiable Israeli aggressor or an American tyrant with limitless greed,” adding the state would “bear responsibility for any internal explosion and any destruction of Lebanon.”

Salam later denounced the remarks, saying on X that they “constitute an implicit threat of civil war.”

He added that “any threat or intimidation related to such a war is totally unacceptable.”

Salam also hit back at Hezbollah’s characterization of the disarmament push as an American-Israeli effort.

“Our decisions are purely Lebanese, made by our cabinet, and no one tells us what to do,” he said.

“The Lebanese have the right to stability and security… without which the country will not be able to recover, and no reconstruction or investment will take place.”

Before the war with Israel, Hezbollah was believed to be better armed than the Lebanese military.

It long maintained it had to keep its arsenal to defend Lebanon from attack, but critics accused it of using its weapons for political leverage.

Qassem said Friday that Hezbollah and its political ally Amal would not be organizing any street protests against disarmament at this time, but threatened to do so in the future.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council chief Larijani was in Beirut this week and held talks with Qassem as well as with Aoun.

Iran has expressed its opposition to the government’s disarmament plan, and has vowed to continue to provide support, with Lebanese officials recently hardening their tone toward Hezbollah and its patron.

Both the president and the prime minister took issue with Iran’s recent statements during Larijani’s trip, with Salam saying Lebanon rejects “any interference in its internal affairs.”