Israel has continued to bomb Gaza as exchanges of fire and threats over the Lebanon border raised fears of wider conflict, AFP reports.

Five municipal workers died “during an Israeli bombing” of a garage in Gaza City, said Mahmud Basal, spokesman for the civil defence agency in the Palestinian territory.

In southern Gaza, AFPTV captured an overnight strike on a residential district of Khan Younis city. A ball of fire and sparks flared, followed by grey smoke before residents inspected damage in the dusty darkness.

Just before Thursday midnight, Israel’s army said it had “successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon”. Early Friday, Lebanese official media reported fresh Israeli strikes in the country’s south.

This came after Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement said it fired dozens of rockets at an Israeli barracks in northern Israel on Thursday in retaliation for a deadly air strike in south Lebanon. One of the group’s operatives was killed in that strike, Israel said.