The U.S. embassy in Beirut said on Thursday that Lebanon was at a crossroads and urged a meeting between President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A Lebanese military official confirmed to Al-Jazeera on Thursday that "the military establishment is aware of the magnitude of the challenges facing Lebanon on all levels," explaining that "our vision is based on an army capable of securing national sovereignty and providing security for the Lebanese people."

President Joseph Aoun emphasized during a Cabinet session Thursday that he and PM Nawaf Salam are continously monitoring the situation in southern Lebanon, Information Minister Paul Morcos said after the meeting.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced Thursday that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has again told Speaker Nabih Berri in their latest phone call that "halting Israeli attacks on Lebanon is included in our agreement with the United States."

The Israeli army said Thursday that a soldier was killed in southern Lebanon, the fourth such death since a fragile ceasefire took effect there earlier this month.

Dozens of residents and local officials from southern Lebanon gathered in Beirut on Thursday to protest Israel's destruction of their villages, which has been ongoing despite a fragile ceasefire.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has pointed out that instead of "panting after direct negotiations, which could be a disgrace to Lebanon," the Lebanese government should instead "turn to the International Criminal Court and accuse Israel of its repeated and ongoing war crimes against Lebanon."

Trump administration officials have said that the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel is not collapsing, despite the growing escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israeli strikes on south Lebanon killed nine people including two children, the health ministry said Thursday, shortly after the president decried ongoing Israeli violations of a nearly two-week ceasefire.

The ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah is far from the first conflict between them. The two have an enmity that goes back more than four decades, with outbursts of fighting or outright war punctuated by periods of tense calm.

Here is a timeline of some significant events in the hostilities between the two: