The Israeli army said Hezbollah failed to strike a military intelligence base near Tel Aviv that the Lebanese armed group’s leader said was the target of a rocket and drone barrage on Sunday.

Britain on Sunday called for restraint in the Middle East, after the largest clashes between Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah since the start of the war in Gaza.

"Further escalation in the Middle East must be avoided at all costs," British Foreign Secretary David Lammy posted on X, following a call with Israel's minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer.

Five-time former Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss, who served during some of the most tumultuous years of his country's modern history, died Sunday at age 94, the current premier said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati described Hoss, who was also a former government minister and member of parliament, as the "conscience of Lebanon" in a statement announcing his death. He added that Hoss "passed away at the most difficult and delicate stage in which Lebanon needs its conscience."

Danny Citrinowicz, an expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Hezbollah might be trying to “balance the equation without escalating into war” after its response against Israel on Sunday.

Each side hopes their narrative will be sufficient for them to declare victory and avoid a wider confrontation, he said.

After an emergency government meeting on Sunday, Lebanon’s caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam said officials were “feeling a bit more optimistic” about a de-escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.

“We feel more reassured since both sides confirmed that the expected operations ended,” he said, referring to Sunday morning's heavy exchange of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Waking at dawn on Sunday to explosions and sirens, Abigail Levy checked the news and quickly understood there had been "an escalation" of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday announced that Hezbollah’s attack on Israel on Sunday morning had targeted an intelligence base just outside Tel Aviv and an air defense base in the heart of Israel.

“We targeted the Glilot military intelligence base near Tel Aviv, around 110 kilometers from Lebanon's border,” said Nasrallah in a speech dedicated to explaining Hezbollah’s response to the killing of its top military chief Fouad Shukur, who was assassinated in an airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs around a month ago.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Sunday's strikes in Lebanon were "not the final word" in Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah.

Israel has told foreign parties that it moved to thwart a major Hezbollah attack on Sunday morning and that it does not intend to “turn that into a broad war,” the Israel Hayom newspaper said.

Beirut airport was functioning Sunday but many passengers were stuck as flights were cancelled or delayed, an AFP correspondent said, after Israel and Hezbollah announced broad strikes in an escalation of cross-border hostilities.

"We came at 4:30 am for our flight at 8:00 am but they told us it was cancelled," said Elham Shukair, a passenger headed to the United States via Jordan.