Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday warned that Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem would pay an "extraordinarily heavy price" for escalating attacks during the ongoing Jewish holidays.

"I have a clear message for Naim Qassem... you and your associates will pay an extraordinarily heavy price for the intensified rocket fire directed at Israeli citizens as they gathered to celebrate Passover Seder," Katz said in a video statement.

A month into Israel's war against Hezbollah, invading Israeli troops are gradually advancing in south Lebanon, raising fears for the area's fate following the last Israeli occupation that lasted nearly two decades.

Since war erupted last month, Israeli officials have said Israel intends to establish a "security zone" inside Lebanon.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam reiterated, after a cabinet session at the Grand serail, his commitment to efforts aiming at stopping the Israeli war.

Salam condemned joint Hezbollah-Iran attacks on Israel and said they do not serve Lebanon's national interests.

In rugged terrain along the Syrian-Lebanese border, yellow bulldozers raised earthen berms in front of armored vehicles while soldiers combed through tunnels they said were used by Hezbollah, as Syria reinforces its side of the border.

Syria is seeking to stay out of the regional war, whose flames have reached neighboring Lebanon, where Hezbollah is fighting a fierce conflict with Israel.

President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam are determined to continue their contacts, hoping that will lead to international intervention to halt the fighting in south Lebanon, ministerial sources said.

Whenever war rocks northern Israel, residents of Kiryat Shmona live their lives to the rhythm of rocket sirens. Young people have left the city, and those who remain feel neglected by the government.

Some mere three kilometers from Lebanon, this northern settlement is living through its second war in less than three years, not counting Israel's 12-day war with Iran last June, or the war with Hamas in Gaza.

The Israeli army targeted Wednesday several towns and villages in south Lebanon including Houmin al-Tahta, al-Mansouri, Khiam, Harees, Kawnin, Beit Yahoun, Haddatha, al-Tiri, Hanine, al-Qawzah, Beit Leef, al-Ghandourieh, Kafra, al-Qlayleh, al-Henniyyeh, Maaroub, Dweir, Marjaoun, Maroun al-Ras, Marwanieh, and Ramadieh.

At least six people were killed in the strikes, four of them from the same family in Houmin.

UNESCO convened Wednesday an extraordinary meeting to strengthen the protection of cultural heritage in Lebanon, following the country’s request.

The meeting - an extraordinary session of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict – led to granting provisional enhanced protection to 39 cultural properties as well as the provision of an international financial assistance, totaling over 100,000 USD for emergency operations on the ground.

Iran’s supreme leader vowed Wednesday his nation will continue to support anti-Israeli forces in the Mideast.

The message from Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, like others since he was named Iran’s new supreme leader, came in a statement read on air by a state television anchor.

Paris, through its diplomatic channels and its Minister of Defense, has conveyed very serious warnings to Beirut about the deteriorating situation on the ground and its tendency towards further escalation, sources told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper in remarks published Wednesday.