Israeli warplanes raided overnight into Monday the southern border towns of Rab Tlatine, Kfarkila, and Blida and struck al-Bayyada, deeper in the Tyre district.

The Israeli military said Sunday that an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah crashed into the Golan Heights, severely wounding a soldier and lightly hurting 17 others.

Iran had warned that "all resistance fronts", a grouping of Iran and its regional allies, would confront Israel if it attacks Lebanon.

The comment from Iran's mission to New York comes with fears of a wider regional war involving Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah. The two sides have engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire since the war in Gaza began.

U.S., European and Arab mediators are pressing to keep stepped-up cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah from spiraling into a wider Middle East war that the world has feared for months. Iran and Israel traded threats Saturday of what Iran said would be an "obliterating" war over Hezbollah.

Hopes are lagging for a cease-fire in Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza that would calm attacks by Hezbollah and other Iranian-allied groups. With the stalled talks in mind, American and European diplomats and other officials are delivering warnings to Hezbollah — which is far stronger than Hamas but seen as overconfident — about taking on the military might of Israel, current and former diplomats say.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said that Israel is “not looking for war” with Hezbollah and that a diplomatic solution is preferable, as the far-right Otzma Yehudit party indicated it would bolt the government if Israel shied away from launching a full-scale assault on the Iran-backed Lebanese group.

Nevertheless, Gallant reiterated that Israel is making preparations and planning for a wider conflict, and said the ball is in Hezbollah’s court.

U.S. officials have suggested, without providing details, that there may be options for ending the conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border without a Gaza cease-fire, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.

Draft agreements have called for Hezbollah to move heavy weapons away from the Israeli border, while offering reconstruction funds for Lebanon, among other terms, according to Lebanese and European officials and published reports.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday paid an inspection visit to war-hit south Lebanon.

Mikati started his tour at an army barracks in Tyre before inspecting official school exam centers and holding a meeting with health officials.

The European Union has imposed asset freezes and visa bans on several firms and individuals accused of helping to finance Palestinian militant Islamist group Hamas, Brussels said.

The sanctions were the second round to be imposed by the EU on the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups after their attack on Israel on October 7.

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.

The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp entered the eastern Mediterranean Sea this week as the U.S. positions warships to try to keep fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon from escalating into a wider war in the Middle East.

While the Wasp has the capability to assist in the evacuation of civilians if full-scale war breaks out between Israel and the Iranian-backed group along the Lebanon border, that’s not the primary reason it was rotated in, a U.S. official said. “It’s about deterrence,” the official said.

Western diplomatic sources did not sense a serious desire from Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for an all-out war on Lebanon during his latest visit to Washington, a media report said on Friday.

“Despite the public threats, the majority of which are for consumption and are targeted at the Israeli interior, there was consensus with the U.S. officials that although the situation is unbearable on the northern front, and although the war’s goals are legitimate from an Israeli viewpoint, there is no ability to achieve them without triggering a regional confrontation, not to mention the strategic damages that will affect Israel,” ad-Diyar newspaper reported.