A former head of the Mossad’s counterterrorism division has urged Israel to intensify attacks on suspected Hezbollah activity in southern Lebanon while avoiding steps that could trigger a wider war or formally end the ceasefire.

“I would recommend striking with force anywhere in southern Lebanon where we identify any kind of organising,” Oded Ailam told Israel’s 103FM radio on Thursday.

Ailam said Israel should not respond by assassinating senior Hezbollah figures or striking Beirut’s southern suburbs, arguing that such actions would breach the current limits of the confrontation.

His comments followed an explosion inside a building in southern Lebanon on Wednesday that killed two Israeli reservists, Major Harel Birenstock and Sergeant Major Tamir Vaknin, and wounded four other soldiers.

The troops had entered the building during what Israel described as a security sweep. Army Radio, citing an Israeli security source, said it remained unclear whether the explosive device had been planted before or after the ceasefire took effect.

The Israeli military initially described the incident as a “blatant ceasefire violation” by Hezbollah and launched strikes across southern Lebanon. Defence Minister Israel Katz did not repeat that accusation in a later statement mourning the soldiers.

The available public accounts have not established who planted the device.

Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike on the town of Tibnin killed one person and wounded 12. Israel also issued an evacuation warning for Mansouri before attacking the area, its first online warning for a Lebanese village in more than a month.

Ailam said military pressure should be maintained alongside negotiations with the Lebanese government. He argued that the diplomatic process could strengthen international support for the Lebanese state as the country’s sole sovereign authority, even if the Lebanese army could not immediately take full control of the south.

Israeli troops remain inside Lebanese territory in a buffer zone declared unilaterally by Israel. Lebanon has demanded their withdrawal, while Israel says its forces will remain until it is satisfied that Hezbollah no longer poses a threat to northern Israeli communities.

Under a US-brokered framework agreed on 26 June, Israeli forces are expected to withdraw progressively from designated “pilot zones” as the Lebanese army deploys and armed groups are disarmed. Hezbollah has opposed demands that it surrender its weapons.

Ailam also criticised US President Donald Trump, describing current American policy as a “seventh bankruptcy” and comparing it with the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

His reference was to six Chapter 11 filings by Trump-controlled companies, not personal bankruptcy. The Trump administration signed a withdrawal agreement with the Taliban in February 2020, while the final, chaotic evacuation from Kabul was carried out under President Joe Biden in August 2021.

The seventh round of US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon ended in Rome on Thursday without a new political agreement. A US State Department spokesperson described the discussions as productive and said the sides had narrowed their differences over the pilot zones, but no timetable for a wider Israeli withdrawal was announced.