More than 120 individuals and groups on Wednesday called for a United Nations probe into Israeli attacks on journalists in south Lebanon, where three were killed last year.

An appeal addressed to U.N. rights chief Volker Turk expressed concern over "the Israeli forces' apparent deliberate targeting of journalists and media workers in Lebanon."

There will be no major war between Hezbollah and Israel despite the latest escalation, a Western diplomat has said privately to his interlocutors.

The military wing of Palestinian group Hamas on Wednesday said it fired a volley of rockets towards northern Israel from south Lebanon, amid escalating exchanges at the Lebanon-Israel border in recent days.

Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has exchanged near-daily fire with the Israeli army since war erupted between Israel and the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group in October, while Palestinian groups in Lebanon have also occasionally claimed attacks.

Caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim on Wednesday said a newspaper distorted remarks voiced by him about the Lebanese Army’s preparedness.

Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire Wednesday a day after a U.N. official called for an end to the "dangerous cycle of violence", as tensions increased on the border.

An Israeli airstrike targeted the house of Hezbollah commander Ali Wehbe in Bint Jbeil, while Israeli warplanes bombed Beit Leef, Ramyeh, Ainata and al-Khraybeh.

Operatives from Iran and Hezbollah are working inside Yemen to support Houthi insurgents' attacks on international shipping, a U.S. official said.

Tim Lenderking, the U.S. special envoy for Yemen, told a Senate subcommittee that Iran's clerical state was "equipping and facilitating" the Houthi attacks, which have triggered retaliatory U.S. and British strikes on Yemen.

The United States said Tuesday that it does not want to witness an escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi has said that Hezbollah must “pay a very high price” for its continued attacks on northern Israel.

The U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka is “deeply concerned by the gradual expansion in the exchange of fire across the Blue Line in scope, scale and intensity, which increases the risks of a broader conflagration and undermines Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006),” her office said in a statement. 

“She urges an immediate halt to this dangerous cycle of violence and return to a cessation of hostilities,” the statement said.

Fighting between Hezbollah and Israel took a dangerous turn this week with Israeli strikes deep into Lebanese territory, further stoking fears of all-out war between the arch-foes.

Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has exchanged near-daily fire with the Israeli army since war erupted between Israel and the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group on October 7.