Israel strikes Hezbollah targets in tense exchange on Lebanon border

The Israeli military exchanged fire with Hezbollah militants on Saturday as skirmishes with the group continue at the Lebanon-Israel border.

Israel launched airstrikes on multiple Hezbollah positions near the Lebanese border as the Iran-backed militant group launched rockets towards Israeli targets, the Associated Press reported.

Hezbollah has repeatedly threatened escalation amid Israel’s war with Hamas, an ally of the group, in Gaza.

“What the Israelis do to Lebanon will also determine how we will act,” leader Hassan Nasrallah said Friday. “All options are on the table on the Lebanese front.”

Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters attacked at least six Israeli posts along the border, saying that “direct hits were scored and technical equipment was destroyed.”

The organization’s Al-Manar TV also reported that fighters shot down a spy balloon that Israel’s military posted over the northern town of Misgaf Am, according to The AP.

An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the strikes and Israel’s response early Saturday. Avichay Adraee said that airstrikes, artillery and tanks assaulted Hezbollah positions and targeted “terrorist infrastructure, weapons depots, and compounds.”

The U.S. embassy in Beirut issued a security alert on Saturday following the strikes, urging all U.S. citizens to leave the country while flights are available.

The recent skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israel have been the most frequent and deadliest in years. The two sides last fought in a full conflict in 2006, which ended in stalemate.

“Israel is weaker than a spider web,” Nasrallah said in Friday’s remarks.

Nasrallah’s threats come as the Israeli military escalates its ground invasion of Gaza, entering Gaza City for the first time Friday.

The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has reached 9,448, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 140 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting. Over 240 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group.