Israeli warplanes carried out their most intense strikes on south Lebanon in nearly a year of war late on Thursday (September 19), Lebanese security sources said, heightening the conflict between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah amid U.S. calls for restraint, Reuters reports.
The White House said a diplomatic solution was achievable and urgent, and Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy called for an "immediate ceasefire" between Israel and Hezbollah.
The intense barrage followed attacks earlier in the week attributed by Lebanon and Hezbollah to Israel that blew up Hezbollah radios and pagers, killing 37 people and wounding about 3,000 in Lebanon.
In Thursday's operation, Israel launched dozens of bombs across southern Lebanon, three Lebanese security sources said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Israeli radio stations reported that dozens of fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets including around 100 rocket launchers.
Israel's military did not confirm the shelling but said earlier it had struck dozens of Hezbollah targets, including rocket launchers and weapon depots in southern Lebanon.
Israel says its conflict with Hezbollah, like its war in Gaza against Hamas, is part of a wider regional confrontation with Iran, which sponsors both groups as well as armed movements in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
