Hezbollah battles Israeli soldiers at Lebanon's border

Intensified strikes by Israel turning a year of cross-border exchanges into full-blown war

Hezbollah said on Oct 5 its fighters were confronting Israeli troops in Lebanon's southern border region, where the Israeli military said it struck militants from the Iran-backed movement inside a mosque.

Rapidly escalating violence in recent days saw intense Israeli strikes on Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon as ground troops conducted raids near the border, transforming nearly a year of cross-border exchanges into full-blown war.

In the first reported Israeli air strike on the northern Tripoli region in the current flare-up, Palestinian militant group Hamas said "Zionist bombardment" of the Beddawi refugee camp killed a commander, Saeed Attallah Ali, as well as his wife and two daughters on Oct 5.

The escalation, which this week included Iran's second-ever missile attack on Israel, intensifying Hezbollah rocket fire and strikes claimed by Iran allies from as far away as Yemen, comes just days before the first anniversary of Hamas' Oct 7 attack on Israel.

An Israeli military official told AFP the army was "preparing a response" to Iran's attack, without elaborating.

Israel's military launched an intensified wave of strikes on Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon, killing more than 1,110 people since Sept 23.

On the ground, Hezbollah said its fighters were engaged in clashes with Israeli troops in the border area, later claiming a rocket attack at northern Israel's Ramat David air base, some 45km from the frontier.