On her first visit to UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, U.N. Special Coordinator Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert met with UNIFIL Force Commander and Head of Mission Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro and with UNIFIL peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon.

After visiting the Blue Line, the Special Coordinator stated, “Our joint efforts are aimed at restoring stability along the Blue Line after over eight months of intense exchanges that have severely disrupted tens of thousands of lives on both sides. It is crucial for all sides to stop the firing and for the parties to commit to sustainable solutions in line with Security Council Resolution 1701. There is no inevitability to conflict.”

Hezbollah has been drawing on a powerful arsenal since it began exchanging fire with Israel in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas over eight months ago.

As fears of a regional war rise after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said none of Israel would be spared in a full-blown conflict -- and after Israel said it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive -- AFP looks at Hezbollah's weapons cache:

Lebanese media reported early Friday fresh Israeli strikes on al-Wazzani in the country's south, as fears of a regional conflict grew after Israel revealed it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive and the Iran-backed militants vowed to blanket their foe in rockets.

Israeli artillery later shelled a house in the outskirts of al-Naqoura.

Hezbollah said it fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel Thursday in retaliation for a deadly strike in south Lebanon, a day after a fiery speech from the group's leader.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants on Thursday stressed that “the Lebanese-Cypriot relations are built on a rich history of diplomatic cooperation,” after Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Cyprus against allowing Israel to use its air bases to bomb Lebanon in the event of war.

U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein has warned Lebanese officials that if Hezbollah doesn’t cease its near-daily attacks on northern Israel, it could find itself the target of “a limited Israeli operation,” Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported on Thursday.

According to the report, Hochstein told the officials that a diplomatic solution was needed to force Hezbollah back from the Israel-Lebanon border, or else Israel could launch “a limited attack with the backing of the United States.”

Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil said Thursday that the reason behind the security situation is not the presence of Hezbollah but the presence of Israel.

Bassil had blamed Hezbollah many times for starting clashes with Israel, following its war on Gaza.

Fears of a regional war rose Thursday after Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement said none of Israel would be spared in a full-blown conflict, and Israel said it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive.

Experts are divided on the prospect of wider war, almost nine months into Israel's vow to eradicate Hamas, the Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip.

Officials in Lebanon are working with U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein on a “plan B” regarding the southern front, MTV reported overnight.

The plan “can be improved should (U.S. President Joe) Biden’s proposal (for the Gaza ceasefire) fail and it might convince Hezbollah,” MTV added.

A senior Israeli political official has commented on the situation on Israel’s northern border by warning that "if Hezbollah continues to attack Israel, the whole of southern Lebanon will look like Gaza."

"Beirut will not be immune," the official added, according to Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.