Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced Friday that Spain is working with its partners to de-escalate tensions in south Lebanon.

"We have repeatedly warned against escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border," Albares said in an interview with Al Jazeera, adding that "the cycle of violence in the Middle East cannot be allowed to expand further."

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.”

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.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides has responded to unusual remarks by Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who has hinted that Cyprus would be targeted if it allowed Israel to use its air bases to attack Lebanon in the event of war.

Christodoulides said his island nation “is in no way involved” in any military operations in the region, adding that Nasrallah’s remarks “don’t in any way reflect what’s being attempted, which is to present a picture that Cyprus is involved in military operations.”

Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, has visited Israeli air defense soldiers near the border with Lebanon, saying Israel was aware of Hezbollah's capabilities demonstrated in a video released by the group and has solutions for such threats.

“We of course have infinitely greater capabilities," he said.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday threatened the nearby island of Cyprus if it opened its airports and bases to Israel in the event of total war with Hezbollah.

"Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war," Nasrallah warned in a televised address commemorating slain Hezbollah commander Taleb Abdallah.