Israel strikes area deep in south after Hezbollah launches rockets and drones

Israel’s military said Friday that about 25 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward northern Israel, damaging a building and setting fires as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah threaten to spiral into a full-blown war.

Israeli artillery bombarded the sources of the rocket fire, and the Israeli army said its warplanes also struck what it described as Hezbollah air defense infrastructure in the area of Jabal Safi, north of the city of Nabatieh.

Israel’s air defense system also failed to intercept three drones from Lebanon that flew into Israeli airspace, the military said. Firefighters were dispatched in northern Israel to try to extinguish the blazes.

The cross-border fire came as Israel’s defense minister told troops on the northern border that he still sought a diplomatic agreement to calm tensions along the border but that the military was prepared to fight.

“We are not looking for war but we are ready for it,” Yoav Gallant said. He said that if Hezbollah “chooses to go to war, we will know what to do.”

Also Friday, Jordan’s foreign ministry told its citizens to avoid traveling to Lebanon. The U.S. has brought an assault ship, the USS Wasp, into the eastern Mediterranean Sea this week to try to keep fighting between Israel and Hezbollah from escalating.

Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily cross-border fire since the war against Hamas in Gaza began in early October. The fighting has been gradually intensifying in recent weeks. Hezbollah says its attacks aim to pressure Israel to halt the war in Gaza and that it won’t agree to a cease-fire on the Israel-Lebanon border before there’s one in Gaza.

The Israeli army said last week that it had “approved and validated” plans for an offensive in Lebanon, although any decision would come from the Israeli political leaders.