Israel's northern border with Lebanon is often tense, the legacy of past conflicts. But as Israel readies to invade Gaza, its army faces the threat of a two-front war.
Repeated fire in recent days has claimed lives on both sides of the U.N.-patrolled border between Lebanon and Israel, which remain technically at war.
If Israel does invade the Palestinian enclave of Gaza in its war on Hamas, Hezbollah has warned it may escalate its military involvement.
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday that "we have no interest in a war in the north, we don't want to escalate the situation".
He urged Hezbollah to show restraint while also warning the group that, if it "chooses the path of war, it will pay a very heavy price".
Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem told a pro-Palestinian rally on Friday that it was "fully prepared and, when the time comes for action, we will take it".
Hezbollah last fought a major conflict with Israel in 2006.
That war left more than 1,200 dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, mostly soldiers, in a conflict that left deep scars and the border bristling with guns.
As tensions have again risen sharply, UNIFIL, the buffer between Israel and Lebanon since 1978, has warned that the situation could get "out of control".
Late Sunday the U.N. peacekeeping mission said "our headquarters in Naqoura was hit with a rocket and we are working to verify from where. Our peacekeepers were not in shelters at the time.
"Fortunately, no one was hurt."
- 'Escalation ladder' -
Over the years, cross-border strikes and incursions have been frequent but carefully calibrated, with both sides at pains to project strength but avoid escalation.
This has threatened to change since October 7 when Gaza's Hamas movement staged its unprecedented attack on Israel in which its gunmen reportedly killed 1,400 in Israel.
A grieving and enraged Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and responded with a devastating bombing campaign on Gaza that has killed more than 2,670, stoking fury across the Arab world.
Tit-for-tat fire in recent days between Hezbollah and its allied Palestinian factions on the one side and Israel on the other have killed at least 11 people in southern Lebanon and two in Israel.
Most of the casualties in Lebanon have been Hezbollah and Hamas fighters, but three civilians, including a Reuters journalist, have also been killed.
Israel, which has massed tanks and troops in the north, on Sunday closed a four-kilometer stretch along the border to civilians.
It took the measure after a civilian was killed, with Hezbollah claiming responsibility.
The death came not in contested territory but in the Israeli border town of Shtula.
https://naharnet.com/stories/en/300980-israel-lebanon-border-fire-stokes-fears-of-wider-war