French President Emmanuel Macron said France had been in direct contact with Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah to avoid a flare-up on Lebanon's southern border with Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

"We sent messages to Hezbollah very directly through our ambassador and our services," Macron told a group of reporters, adding that despite rocket fire on the border there has been "no escalation" but "we remain very cautious."

Soldiers are everywhere and the last residents are hurriedly packing in the northern town of Kiryat Shmona where Israel fears Lebanon's Hezbollah could open up a second front in its war with Hamas.

As smoke rises from the nearby wooded hills following the latest cross-border exchanges, soldiers in fatigues can be seen eating sandwiches on cafe terraces, buying bandages in pharmacies or emerging in groups from the bus station.

More than 4,200 people have been displaced from villages in south Lebanon by clashes on the border with Israel, and local officials said Friday that they are ill-prepared for the much larger exodus that would ensue if the limited conflict escalates to an all-out war.

Some 1,500 of the displaced are staying in three schools in the coastal city of Tyre, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the border.

Lebanon's national carrier Friday said it was cutting more than half of its flights as tensions along the border with Israel prompted more Western countries to warn against travel to Lebanon.

The UK Defense Senior Advisor to the Middle East and North Africa (DSAME), Air Marshal Martin Sampson, ended a two day visit to Lebanon 18-19 October 2023. This is part of his regional tour, including Egypt and Jordan -– to reassure and show support to the UK’s partners in the region including Lebanon, a British embassy statement said.

Air Marshal Sampson met with Army Commander General Joseph Aoun and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. In his messages he reiterated the UK’s "unwavering support to the people of Lebanon and the LAF (Lebanese Army)."

Hezbollah said Friday evening that it attacked Israeli troops and inflicted casualties in response to a deadly attack on journalists and civilians a day earlier.

Israel responded by shelling the outskirts of several Lebanese border towns, with Israeli media outlets reporting "fierce" clashes on the border.

Russia on Friday advised its citizens against travelling to Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian territories amid flaring tensions over Israel's war with Hamas.

"The situation in the Middle East is heating up," the foreign ministry said. "We strongly recommend that Russian citizens refrain from travelling to the region, especially to Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian territories."

Hezbollah executive council member Sheikh Nabil Qaouq on Friday stressed that all Lebanese must know that “the aggression against Gaza is an aggression against the entire region.”

Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on Friday met with the ambassadors of Norwary, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Canada.

“I expressed Lebanon’s deep concern over the continuation of the aggression against Gaza for the fourteenth day, asking their nations to intervene through pressing Israel to halt the escalation,” Bou Habib said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday announced that “the government is carrying out all the diplomatic and political contacts to address the situations and halt the Israeli aggression.”