Speaking to troops during a drill simulating a war in Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Wednesday that Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah may cause the Lebanese state to “pay heavy prices.”

MP Simon Abi Ramia of the Strong Lebanon bloc on Wednesday announced his resignation from “the organizational structure of the Free Patriotic Movement.”

British troops are on standby in the Middle East for a possible major evacuation of expats from Lebanon amid the soaring tensions in the region, British media reports said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea overnight said he expresses “the deepest sentiments of sympathy with the Lebanese southerners, especially the residents of border villages.”

U.S. President Joe Biden over the past week conducted an intense round of diplomacy and military preparation to stave off a catastrophic war in the Middle East, the Washington Post has reported.

“The White House effort has included back-channel talks with Iran to urge restraint, blunt warnings to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to obstruct a cease-fire in Gaza, and the dispatch of a U.S. naval and air armada to protect Israel and other U.S. allies if deterrence fails,” the U.S. newspaper said.

Two people were killed and six others were injured as Hezbollah and Israel traded fire Wednesday, a day after six Hezbollah fighters were killed in south Lebanon and several were injured in north Israel.

A drone struck a vehicle in the southern village of Jwayya in the Tyre district and Israeli artillery shelled al-Jebbayn, Mhaybib, Zebqine and al-Naqoura. The health ministry said the strike on a motorcycle in Jwayya killed two people, and injured six others.

Tensions have soared in the past week as Iran and its allies vowed revenge for the killing, blamed on Israel, of Hamas's political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, and after an Israeli strike killed Hezbollah's top military commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Hezbollah said six of its fighters were killed in Israeli strikes on Tuesday, with the group claiming cross-border attacks and low-flying Israeli warplanes breaking the sound barrier over Beirut.

Hamas ally Hezbollah on Tuesday congratulated Yahya Sinwar on his selection as the Palestinian militant group's new political chief following the killing last week of his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh.

Sinwar's appointment affirms that "the enemy... has failed to achieve its objectives" by killing Hamas leaders and officials, a Hezbollah statement said.

Low-flying Israeli military aircraft violently broke the sound barrier over Beirut Tuesday ahead of a speech by Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

The National News Agency said "Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier... over the capital and in a number of areas."

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday stressed that his group will respond to Israel’s killing of its military chief Fouad Shukur “whatever the consequences may be.”