Israel attacks south Lebanon amid diplomatic push to calm tensions

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty is latest senior official to visit Lebanon on Friday afternoon

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Israel's military struck villages in south Lebanon overnight as western and regional officials worked to prevent cross-border exchanges of fire with Hezbollah developing into a full-scale regional war.

The villages of Kfarkela, Aita Ash Shab and Markaba were among those hit, with a civilian injured in a strike on the latter.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty arrived in Beirut on Friday, one day after a visit to the Lebanese capital by French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne and two days after US envoy Amos Hochstein.

Both had stressed the seriousness of the current situation while underlining that a ceasefire in Gaza was necessary to ensure peace in Lebanon and the wider region.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, left, meets Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut on Friday. EPA

Mr Sejourne arrived on the same day that Air France and its subsidiary Transavia resumed services to Beirut. Most airlines cancelled flights to Lebanon, which has only one international airport, as regional tensions spiralled in late July.

Israel assassinated top Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr in a strike on a densely populated area of Beirut on July 30 that also killed civilians. Hours later, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a blast in Tehran in an assassination blamed on Israel. Both Iran and Hezbollah vowed retaliation, raising fears of a regional war.

Hezbollah has been engaged in daily exchanges of cross-border fire with Israel since October 8. The Iran-backed group says its attacks are in support of its ally Hamas, which has faced an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip after carrying out raids in Israel on October 7 in which nearly 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.

Hezbollah has said its attacks will not end until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its assault.

There are hopes that the resumption of Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha on Thursday could dampen the response from Iran-backed groups to Israel's assassinations.

However Hezbollah deputy secretary general Naim Qassem warned on Thursday that the group's response to the killing of Mr Shukr was “completely separate” to the ceasefire talks. “The response will happen,” he said, adding that “how and when” was still being decided by the group's leaders and commanders.

“The Americans want to say they are doing something but there is a vacuum,” he said after Mr Hochstein's visit.

He said the US envoy offered “no substantial suggestions”.