Fears of a major escalation between Israel and Hezbollah have left many Lebanese on edge, exacerbating mental health problems and reviving traumas of past conflicts in the war-weary country.

One 29-year-old woman, who lives near the southern city of Sidon, said she dreaded the thunderous, explosive boom of Israeli jets regularly breaking the sound barrier.

Haifa's residents gaze warily on to the sprawling industrial port that flanks their Israeli city, knowing the potential for a major blast as they brace for possible bombardment from Hezbollah.

The historic city cascades down a steep hillside to the very edge of the port, a complex which contains Israel's biggest oil refinery, giant fuel tanks and other highly flammable targets.

Hezbollah launched one of its deepest strikes into Israel in mid-May, using an explosive drone that scored a direct hit on one of Israel's most significant air force surveillance systems.

This and other successful drone attacks have given the Iranian-backed group another deadly option for an expected retaliation against Israel for its airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs last month that killed top Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shukur.

An Israeli strike on a vehicle in the south Lebanon city of Sidon on Friday killed a Hamas commander, the Palestinian militant group and the Israeli military said.

It is the first strike of its kind in Sidon since Hamas launched its October 7 attack on Israel, triggering war in Gaza and prompting its Lebanese ally Hezbollah to begin trading near-daily cross-border fire with the Israeli army in a bid to tie down its troops.

A Hezbollah lawmaker has said that his group will take the Lebanese interest into consideration in any response against Israel over its assassination of Hezbollah military chief Fouad Shukur.

Mikhail Samara, 27, who was critically injured by a malfunctioning Israeli Iron Dome interceptor missile on Tuesday amid a Hezbollah drone attack on the Western Galilee, has succumbed to his wounds, Israeli hospital officials said on Friday.

Samara, originally from Kafr Yasif and a student in the Czech Republic, had arrived in Israel recently to visit his family.

A Syrian interception missile landed overnight in the forests of the Zgharta town of Miryata during an Israeli airstrike on the Shuairat airport in central Syria, media reports said.

An agreement to avoid a broad war in the region has likely been reached and the alternative might be a limited response against Israel by Iran and its allies or maybe no response at all, informed sources said.

The Lebanese file will also be separated from the rest of the axis while confrontations will increase on the border with Israel without breaking the rules of engagement, the sources told Kuwait’s al-Anbaa newspaper said.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Friday, after he met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, that the Lebanese government supports a joint statement by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, calling on Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiating table.

The foreign powers involved in brokering a possible cease-fire aimed at halting the fighting in Gaza and releasing Israeli hostages have jointly appealed to Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiating table next week.

Two people were killed on Friday morning in an Israeli drone strike on the coastal border town of al-Naqoura in south Lebanon, with Hezbollah announcing the death of two of its fighters "on the road to Jerusalem".

Later during the day, Israeli warplanes raided a forest between Kfarkela and Deir Mimas. The region was also targeted by artillery shells.