Security forces fired Wednesday tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters who rallied outside the U.S. embassy in the Beirut suburb of Awkar to condemn an Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital.

Protestors hurled stones, many of them wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and raising the Palestinian flag. Local media outlets reported cases of suffocation, amid heavy tear gas fire that made it difficult for medics to help the suffocating protesters.

The State Department has raised the travel advisory for Lebanon, urging people not to travel to the country “due to the unpredictable security situation related to rocket, missile, and artillery exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah or other armed militant factions.”

The advisory issued on Tuesday also urged people to reconsider travel to Lebanon “due to terrorism, civil unrest, armed conflict, crime, kidnapping” and the U.S. Embassy in Beirut’s limited capacity to provide support to U.S. citizens. The State Department authorized the voluntary, temporary departure of family members of U.S. government personnel and some non-emergency personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut due to the unpredictable security situation in Lebanon.

Hezbollah said wednesday its fighters have hit an Israeli Merkava tank with an anti-tank missile, inflicting casualties among the troops.

The group said the attack early Wednesday targeted an Israeli army position across the border from the Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab. The Israeli army said it is checking reports that an anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanon.

Israel's military Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has threatened aggressive retaliation if Lebanon's Hezbollah escalates tensions on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

“This is a war on the home,” Halvey said after meeting with Israeli troops near the northern border. “If Hezbollah makes a mistake, it will be annihilated.”

Hezbollah said Tuesday that five of its fighters have been killed in south Lebanon, bringing to nine the number of Hezbollah's members killed in intensifying border skirmishes with Israel.

In statements, Hezbollah said five of its fighters had been killed "performing jihad", just hours after Israel said it killed four militants who attempted to infiltrate the border from Lebanon, as war rages between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas in Gaza.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday called on the country’s political forces to elect a new president to confront the rapid developments in the region and Lebanon.

“In the face of what is happening in the region and the escalation of the Israeli aggression against Palestine, Gaza and Lebanon, we are before a chance to elect a president, so shall we seize it?” Berru said, as parliament convened to elect two secretaries, three commissioners and the members of the parliamentary committees.

Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakkan Fidan, who arrived in Beirut Tuesday, told reporters after meeting with his Lebanese counterpart that the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas “might lead to greater wars.”

“We are doing all we can so that the war does not spread to Lebanon and other countries," Fidan said at a news conference in Beirut, alongside his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib.

Reuters has called on Israel to conduct a quick and comprehensive investigation into cross-border fire that killed one of its journalists and wounded other reporters in Lebanon last week.

Video journalist Issam Abdallah died and six other journalists were injured -- including two from AFP -- in firing near the village of Alma al-Shaab in southern Lebanon on Friday.

Israel shelled Tuesday border areas in south Lebanon after three anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanon, causing casualties on the Israeli side.

Three Israelis were injured, one of them critically wounded, Israeli reports said, as Israel shelled with artillery al-Khiam, Hamames, Kfarkela, Rmeish, Markaba, Aitaroun, and al-Bustan's outskirts.

Iran has warned of a possible "pre-emptive action" against Israel "in the coming hours", as Israel readies for a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Tehran has repeatedly warned that a ground invasion of the long-blockaded Gaza would be met with a response from other fronts -- prompting fears of a wider conflict that could draw in other countries.