Israel-Hamas Conflict: IDF strikes Hezbollah target in southern Lebanon

Israeli drones, artillery, and tanks struck targets in Lebanon on Friday after an apparent drone was intercepted, shots were fired at a number of military posts on the northern frontier and an explosion damaged the border security barrier, the Israel Defense Forces told The Times of Israel.

The incident remained the latest skirmish recorded along the Lebanese border amid fears that the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group may open a second front amid the ongoing clash against Hamas.

The Hamas invasion of the Gaza Strip last week has so far left 1,300 Israelis dead.

It also came amid new warnings from Hezbollah and Iran that the fighting could escalate into a regional conflict, The Times of Israel reported.

IDF posted on X: "Following the initial report, another unidentified UAV crossed into northern Israel. Additionally, an IDF UAV was fired upon. In response, the IDF struck a Hezbollah terrorist target in southern Lebanon."

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces on Friday warned civilians in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate the region as it seems it will intensify attacks on terrorist targets in the Gaza City region.

According to reports, the IDF is planning to launch a ground invasion in response to Hamas’s deadly onslaught against southern communities.

An IDF spokesperson told CNN the military is preparing to “strike Hamas and prevent them from ever being able to attack us again.”

The order came as morning broke on the seventh day of the Israel-Gaza war, with the military pressing its widespread air offensive and a total siege on the Strip, which according to international aid organizations has left it on the edge of a humanitarian disaster, reported The Times of Israel.

Humanitarians expressed deep concern on Friday for all civilians in the Gaza Strip following Israel’s order for the entire population there to leave the north, amid ongoing airstrikes and a deepening crisis.

The development follows an announcement by UN Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, just before midnight Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, that UN representatives in Gaza had been told by Israeli military liaison officers everyone living north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within 24 hours.

Some 1.1 million people would be expected to leave northern Gaza,Dujarric said, adding that the same order applied to all UN staff and those sheltered in UN facilities, including schools, health centres and clinics.

The UN considers it “impossible” for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences and appeals for the order to be rescinded, he added.