JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said on Wednesday its fighter jets “began a series of strikes in Lebanon”, raising fears of a war between the two countries after months of cross-border fire.

The military gave no further details of the air strikes, while Lebanese media reported air raids on southern villages including Adchit, Sawwaneh and Shiha­biyeh.

The strikes came hours after fire from Lebanon wounded multiple people in northern Israel, according to medics.

Seven people were wounded, five of them in the town of Safed, the Magen David Adom emergency service said.

An AFP photographer saw medics and troops evacuating a wounded person by military helicopter from Safed’s Ziv hospital.

There was no immediate claim for the rocket launches from Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has traded near-daily fire with Israeli troops since the outbreak of the war in Gaza more than four months ago.

Hezbollah chief Seyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday fire from southern Lebanon will end “when the attack on Gaza stops and there is a ceasefire” between the group’s Palestinian allies Hamas and arch foe Israel.

“If they (Israel) broaden the confrontation, we will do the same,” Nasrallah warned in a televised address.

Fears have been growing of another full-blown conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with tens of thousands displaced on both sides of the border and regional tensions soaring.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2024