Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire despite war spillover concerns

Lebanon's Iranianbacked Hezbollah group said on Saturday it had fired rockets at Israel and its arch-foe said it had struck a "terrorist cell" in retaliation, as top US and EU diplomats visited the region to seek ways to halt spillover from the war.

Fighting also raged on inside Gaza, especially in and near the southern city of Khan Younis, where the Israeli military said it had killed three members of the militant Palestinian Hamas group that rules the densely populated coastal strip.

Israel and Hezbollah often trade fire across the Lebanese border, the West Bank is seething with anger and the Iranaligned Houthis in Yemen seem determined to continue attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes until Israel stops bombarding Gaza.

Air I sirens sounded acros northern Israel early on Saturday when the Israeli military said it had identified some 40 "launches" from Lebanon toward the area of Meron.

Hezbollah said it had hit a key Israeli observation post with 62 rockets as a "preliminary response" to the killing of Hamas' deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri on Tuesday.