U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed concern to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant in a call on Saturday about Israel's role in escalating tensions along the border between Israel and Lebanon, three Israeli and U.S. sources briefed on the call said.

“Austin's message to Gallant reflected growing anxiety in the White House that Israeli military action in Lebanon is exacerbating tensions along the border, which could lead to a regional war,” U.S. news portal Axios reported overnight.

Lebanon has seized more than half a tonne of drugs destined for Kuwait, authorities said, as Beirut seeks to combat narcotics trafficking, particularly to Gulf countries.

Authorities "seized around 800 kilograms of drugs" bound for Kuwait via the Netherlands, the office of Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said in a statement carried by Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA).

Two Lebanese were killed and several others were wounded Monday in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the southern Lebanese town of Ainata as Hezbollah targeted Israeli posts and infantry forces in Dhaira, Branit, al-Marj, al-Raheb, and Netu'a, causing confirmed casualties.

Israeli artillery meanwhile shelled Mhaibib, Blida, and the outskirts of Alma al-Shaab, Aita al-Shaab, Ramia, Dhaira, al-Jebbayn, Ain Azzarka, Shihine, al-Naqoura, Markaba and Houla in south Lebanon, using flare bombs on Aita al-Shaab. Israeli warplanes also bombed al-Labbouneh, Aita al-Shaab, Bint Jbeil and Ainata.

A drone from Lebanon appears on the other side of the hill from the Israeli soldiers. The sighting is reported by radio, but its buzz has already alerted the troops.

Two of the camouflaged soldiers on the ground train their M-16s skywards.

The Israeli army’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, has said the Hezbollah attack on Israeli civilians on Sunday was “very serious.”

Hezbollah had wounded Sunday seven Israeli troops and 10 employees who were in Dovev to repair power lines downed by earlier strikes, according to Israel. Hezbollah said the guided missiles targeted a “logistical force belonging to the occupation army that was about to install transmission poles and eavesdropping and spying devices near the Dovev barracks.” Some of the wounded are in critical condition.

The Israeli army is preparing to deal a “strong blow” to Hezbollah in response to the escalation of its attacks today, Israeli right-wing newspaper Maariv said on Sunday.

An Israeli army spokesman later said that a fighter jet and other aircraft attacked several Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including "a military compound containing a warehouse of weapons and military infrastructure."

The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon said gunfire from an unidentified source hit a member of its contingent early Sunday, adding that the peacekeeper was in a stable condition.

Israeli fighter jets pounded suspected Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon with air strikes on Sunday, after an incoming anti-tank missile wounded 10 Israeli civilians near the border, the Israeli army said.

The Israeli army said "a number of civilians were wounded" in the anti-tank missile strike near the village of Dovev, just half 800 meters from the frontier with Lebanon.

Israeli artillery shelling on Sunday targeting the outskirts of the southern Lebanese border towns of Shihin, Umm al-Tout, Halta and Kfarshouba.

The Israeli army radio meanwhile said a rocket fired from south Lebanon landed in an open area in the Western Galilee in northern Israel.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati during a bilateral meeting in Riyadh that Hezbollah is “independent in decisions and actions and does not receive orders from Iran.”

“Hezbollah’s measures in south Lebanon are based on wisdom, rationality and deterrence in order to prevent aggression,” Raisi added.