The Israeli military has warned civilians to leave a 4km wide zone along the country’s northern border with Lebanon following a week of cross-border skirmishes with Hezbollah and pro-Palestinian factions.
Since the latest round of fighting between Gaza-Israel erupted after mass attacks by Hamas last weekend Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon have threatened to open a second front in the north.
Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been engaged in tit-for-tat artillery and missile strikes along the frontier.
On Sunday, an anti-armour missile killed an Israeli civilian after being launched by Hezbollah fighters.
Elsewhere Hezbollah claimed to have struck Israeli army positions along the border which sparked airstrikes by Israel’s airforce.
In response to the attack, Israel announced the creation of the buffer zone of Sunday.
Civilians have been urged to stay out of the zone as tensions continue to escalate.
Backed by Iran, Hezbollah is believed to have arsenals of advanced missiles as well as rocket artillery and drones.
Hezbollah and Iran have both threatened to launch attack Israel should the Israeli army invade Gaza.
Iran has warned the Islamic Republic’s well-armed proxies in Lebanon, Hezbollah, stand prepared to unleash an “earthquake” on Israel.
Iran’s foreign minister has warned Israel that Hezbollah’s “finger is on the trigger to shoot” should attacks on Gaza continue.
Hezbollah is an anti-Israeli paramilitary organisation that has a stronghold within the predominantly Shia-populated area of Southern Lebanon.
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian declared last Saturday: “Any step the resistance (Hezbollah) will take will cause a huge earthquake in the Zionist entity.
“I want to warn the war criminals and those who support this entity before it’s too late to stop the crimes against civilians in Gaza, because it might be too late in a few hours.”
