Israel's military has issued its most detailed warning yet to Hezbollah that it would be "ready to attack immediately" if provoked, as it recounted its actions along the Lebanese border during four months of war in Gaza and made a rare acknowledgement of dozens of airstrikes inside Syria against the Lebanese group.

"We do not choose war as our first priority, but we are certainly prepared," military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said, adding: "We will continue to act wherever Hezbollah is present, we will continue to act wherever it is required in the Middle East. What is true for Lebanon is true for Syria, and is true for other more distant places."

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has warned that a potential pause in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza will not apply to the ongoing hostilities with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

“If Hezbollah thinks that when there’s a pause in fighting in the south (Gaza), we will hold fire against it, it’s sorely mistaken,” Gallant said after meeting troops from the Israeli army’s Alpine Unit on Mount Hermon, according to a statement from his office.

The Amal Movement confirmed Saturday that two of its fighters were killed in an Israeli airstrike overnight in the southern border town of Blida.

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has ended a one-day visit to Lebanon. This is his first official visit to the country as Foreign Secretary, following his previous visit as Prime Minister in September 2015 and his fourth visit to the Middle East as Foreign Secretary.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf met Friday with deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab and other Lebanese MPs in Washington.

The meeting discussed the need to elect a president and prevent an all-out war in Lebanon.

Former prime minister and al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri’s upcoming visit to Beirut will not be swift and he will give time to his popular base and to anyone who might request to meet him -- be them ambassadors, politicians or social figures, al-Jadeed TV has reported.

U.S. mediator Amos Hochsetin will arrive in Israel in the beginning of next week, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation said.

Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has asserted that any ceasefire in Gaza would also apply to the Lebanese-Israeli border, where Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been trading fire since Oct. 8.

Israeli artillery shelled Friday several southern border towns including al-Khiam, al-Hamames, and the outskirts of al-Naqoura.

The Israeli army said it had responded Thursday to attacks from Lebanon by striking the source of the fire, in addition to targeting "a Hezbollah military site in Tayr Harfa in southern Lebanon" while Hezbollah said it struck Israeli "spying devices" in an Israeli post in the occupied Shebaa Farms and three other posts along the border.

A Western diplomat told AFP there was an increasing possibility Israel will escalate border tensions because of internal political pressure, "but meanwhile, Hezbollah does not want to start a war".

Hezbollah had previously signalled its willingness to endorse a diplomatic solution, but only after Israel ends its war in the Gaza Strip.