An Israeli strike on Wednesday wounded five people when it hit a two-story building in the town of Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon, state media reported.

The report came as fears mounted that months of cross-border fire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah could turn into a full-fledged conflict.

Israel said it does not want war in Lebanon but could send its neighbor "back to the Stone Age", as the UN's humanitarian chief warned such a conflict would be "potentially apocalyptic".

The border between the two countries has seen daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants ever since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hezbollah's ally Hamas, which triggered the war in Gaza.

The U.N. humanitarian chief voiced alarm Wednesday at the prospect of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza spreading to Lebanon, warning that it was "potentially apocalyptic."

"I see it as the flashpoint... It's potentially apocalyptic," Martin Griffiths, whose term finishes at the end of the month, told reporters in Geneva.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Wednesday that efforts should be exerted to prevent Lebanon from being turned into “an arena for armed conflicts starting from the south.”

“The relevant U.N. resolutions must be implemented in order to put an end to Israel’s expansionist ambitions, and accordingly not linking Lebanon’s stability and interests to extremely complicated conflicts and endless wars,” Mikati added, during a joint press conference in Beirut with the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin on Wednesday urged warring parties in the Middle East to accept "peace proposals," saying the region including Lebanon "doesn't need war."

"The Middle East is going through a critical moment," Parolin told a press conference in Beirut during a days-long visit to Lebanon.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on Wednesday traveled to Brussels for talks with European Union officials.

Bou Habib will then head to the United States for talks with U.S. officials in Washington and U.N. officials in New York. The minister will also visit Canada to meet with his Canadian counterpart.

The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, met Wednesday in Ain el-Tineh with Speaker Nabih Berri after which he said that “the solution for the presidential crisis begins from this headquarters.”

“The Christian parties certainly bear responsibility, but they are not alone in power and others must shoulder their responsibilities,” Parolin added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday accused Western powers of backing what he said were Israeli plans to attack Lebanon and "spread war" throughout the region.

"Israel is now setting its sights on Lebanon and we see that Western powers behind the scenes are patting Israel on the back and even supporting them," he told lawmakers from his ruling AKP party.

A spokesperson for the United Nations peacekeeping force deployed in south Lebanon along the border with Israel said three of their contractors were wounded when gunfire hit their vehicle.

“Fortunately, there were no serious injuries,” deputy spokesperson for UNIFIL Kandice Ardiel said Tuesday.

Israeli artillery shelled Wednesday Kfarshouba and Wadi Hamoul in south Lebanon, while warplanes raided Aita al-Shaab, al-Khiam and al-Dhayra and a drone struck a power line in al-Taybeh.

Later on Wednesday, Hezbollah said it targeted buildings used by Israeli troops in the Metula settlement near the border in response to Israeli strikes on a number of buildings in the southern towns of Khiam and Kfarshouba.