Lebanon’s media says Israeli strikes killed 10

Violence raises concerns of war with Hezbollah

Israel’s military launched new attacks on targets in Lebanon on Thursday, a day after its strikes in southern Lebanon that according to Lebanese state media killed at least 10 civilians, the most in months of cross-border fighting.

The strikes — which came in response to a rocket attack from Lebanon on Wednesday that killed one Israeli soldier and wounded eight other people — amplified fears that months of cross-border clashes could escalate into a full-fledged war.

Lebanon’s state media reported Thursday among the 10 civilians killed in the Israeli strikes were seven members of one family in the city of Nabatieh.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the Israeli military’s “aggression” and requested an urgent complaint against Israel be brought before the U.N. Security Council, according to a statement from his office.

Israel’s military later said its fighter jets had carried out more strikes inside Lebanon against targets belonging to Hezbollah, the powerful militia that is an ally of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah and Israel have engaged in intense cross-border strikes since the Hamas-led attacks in Israel on Oct. 7.

Since Wednesday, Hezbollah has announced the deaths of at least 10 of its fighters, although it has not specified when or where they had died.

Israel’s military said one was a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force who had been killed by Israeli strikes Wednesday; the group confirmed the man’s death but did not describe his position.

The escalations have reignited fears another front could open in Israel’s war against Hamas. Hezbollah has vowed to respond to the Israeli strikes — and Israeli leaders have signaled they, too, were prepared to fight.

“We have no interest in war, but we must prepare,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in videotaped remarks released Thursday.

Gallant said earlier Thursday he had spoken to U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about the “ongoing threats and attacks” from Hezbollah.

The United States is one of several countries involved in diplomatic efforts to defuse the cross-border tensions.