As tit-for-tat strikes strain a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah less than a week since it went into effect, Israel’s defense minister on Tuesday threatened to directly target the Lebanese state should the agreement fall apart.

Israel hits Lebanon with its largest wave of airstrikes since agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, as both sides accuse each other of violations.

The Israeli military says Hezbollah has fired into a disputed border zone, its first attack since a ceasefire took hold last week. It comes after Hezbollah accused Israel of violating the truce with airstrikes and shelling in Lebanon.

Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in southern Lebanon, Lebanese authorities said Monday, the deadliest day since a ceasefire brokered by the United States and France came into effect last week.

Less than a week after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire went into effect, escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah threatens to unravel the fragile truce. Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon and Hezbollah's mortar fire into Israeli-occupied territory have raised fears of a full-scale conflict,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he was recommending that his Cabinet approve a ceasefire with Hezbollah to end hostilities in Lebanon.

Under the agreement, Israeli troops would withdraw from southern Lebanon while Hezbollah would move its forces further away from the Israeli-Lebanon border.

Israel has launched strikes on Hezbollah positions after what it claimed were violations of the peace deal by the Lebanese proscribed terror group.