Hezbollah said Sunday it had targeted a military position in northern Israel with an armed drone in response to the killing of an Islamist commander.

Israel and the powerful Iran-backed group, a Hamas ally, have exchanged near-daily cross-border fire since the Gaza war erupted on October 7.

Thousands of fighters from Iran-backed groups in the Middle East are ready to come to Lebanon to join with Hezbollah in its battle with Israel if the simmering conflict escalates into a full-blown war, officials with Iran-backed factions and analysts say.

Almost daily exchanges of fire have occurred along Lebanon's frontier with northern Israel since fighters from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip staged a bloody assault on southern Israel in early October that set off a war in Gaza.

Abdullah Hammoud's election as the first Muslim mayor of Dearborn was a watershed moment for this city, an automaking hub home to the highest concentration of Arab-Americans in the United States.

But while his early focus was on upgrading sewer infrastructure and investing in parks, he has now been thrust into the national spotlight for his outspoken criticism of fellow Democrat Joe Biden, over the president's support for Israel's military offensive in Gaza.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that fighting between Israel and Hezbollah must not turn Lebanon into "another Gaza."

Guterres cited increased "bellicose rhetoric" from both sides as they engage in nearly daily exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border in parallel with the war in the Gaza Strip, and he said they risk triggering a catastrophe "beyond imagination."

The flow of U.S. arms to Israel is necessary in order to “defeat Hamas” and “deter” Hezbollah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

“Now this is crucial. It’s crucial for our common war aims to defeat Hamas and to prevent an escalation in Lebanon to a full-fledged war to have this supply,” Netanyahu told U.S. news portal Punchbowl News in an interview published Friday.

Hezbollah targeted Friday soldiers in the Ras al-Naqoura coastal post with an array of suicide drones in response to the Israeli strike on Deir Kifa.

The group later targeted four posts in the occupied Shebaa Farms and Kfarshouba Heights.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will travel to Lebanon for talks with officials in Beirut, including the migration minister.

Baerbock's discussions with officials would focus on "the war in Gaza and the continuing catastrophic humanitarian situation", as well as "the question of what a future could look like that allows Israelis and Palestinians to live together in safety", the ministry spokeswoman said.

Egypt has delved into the ongoing efforts to prevent an Israel-Hezbollah escalation, after Hezbollah warned Cyprus against allowing Israel to use its territory in any war with Lebanon, a media report said.

“Officials from the Egyptian foreign ministry and intelligence services carried out contacts with the United States to contain the Israeli signals of escalation,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced Friday that Spain is working with its partners to de-escalate tensions in south Lebanon.

"We have repeatedly warned against escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border," Albares said in an interview with Al Jazeera, adding that "the cycle of violence in the Middle East cannot be allowed to expand further."

The plans approved by the Israeli army regarding Lebanon include a broad invasion of southern Lebanon and the occupation of large parts of it, in order to end Hezbollah’s combat capabilities, a western diplomat in Jerusalem said.

The diplomat told Kuwaiti newspaper al-Jarida, in remarks published Friday, that the Israeli army has recently completed extensive maneuvers in various areas of Israel, including training to occupy villages and cities after systematically destroying them by air and land, using new advanced weapons.