Clashes resume in south ahead of Nasrallah's speech

The Israeli artillery shelled Wednesday the outskirts of al-Labbouneh and al-Naqoura as Israeli media reported the launching of anti-tank missiles towards the upper Galilee. An Israeli drone later carried out a strike on the border town of Markaba.

Hezbollah said it has targeted the Zar'it barracks and the Jal al-Alam post. Hezbollah also targeted with a Burkan rocket a group of soldiers near al-Malkia post. The attack was a "direct hit", the group said.

Israel is on high alert for an escalation with Hezbollah after one of the top leaders of the Palestinian Hamas was killed Tuesday in a strike in Beirut, heightening the risk of a broader Middle East conflict.

Hezbollah called the strike "a serious attack on Lebanon, its people, its security, sovereignty and resistance" and said it "will never pass without response and punishment."

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to deliver a speech at 6 p.m. as the implications of the killing of Saleh Arouri remain unclear.

The strike in Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold could cause the low-intensity fighting along the Lebanon border to boil over into all-out war, but much depends on how Nasrallah chooses to respond. He has previously vowed to retaliate for any Israeli targeting of allied militant leaders in Lebanon.