U.N. peacekeepers on the Israeli-Lebanese border have never been more crucial, the force's global chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said Tuesday, as fears soared of an escalation in the Middle East.

Worry has grown of a wider regional conflict, especially after the killing, blamed on Israel, of a top Hamas leader in Iran and an Israeli air strike that killed a Hezbollah commander in the Beirut southern suburbs last week.

Air France said Tuesday that its flights and that of its low-cost subsidiary Transavia to Beirut will be suspended through at least Thursday because of fears that the Gaza war could spread.

The resumption of flights to Lebanon's capital, which have been halted since July 29, "will be subject to a new assessment of the local situation," the airline told AFP.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on Tuesday said the Lebanese government is trying to prevent Hezbollah from launching a harsh response against Israel that might trigger a wide war.

Hezbollah attacked Tuesday with an array of suicide drones an Israeli town near the border between Akka and Nahariya, wounding at least seven people, in response to the killing of one of its fighters in an Israeli airstrike.

Sirens sounded in Nahariya before a loud blast was heard and smoke began rising from an intersection. Earlier, an Associated Press reporter saw a drone flying over the city. The reporter later saw emergency crews rushing to the scene.

Lebanon has received 32 tons of emergency medical supplies from the World Health Organization for "treating war wounds" in efforts to increase readiness for "escalation in the Israeli aggression on Lebanon", a health ministry statement said.

Health Minister Firas Abiad said another supply shipment was due to arrive in the coming days.

Diplomatic pressure has mounted to avert an escalation between Iran and Israel following high-profile killings that have sent regional tensions soaring.

United States President Joe Biden, whose country has sent extra warships and fighter jets to the region in support of Israel, held crisis talks on Monday with his national security team.

China's embassy in Beirut urged citizens to "travel with caution" should they visit Lebanon, warning they face "higher security risks" as fears of a regional conflict soar.

In a statement issued Monday evening Beijing time, the embassy warned citizens the situation in the country was "grave and complex".

Israeli warplanes raided Tuesday the southern village of Mayfadoun in the Nabatiyeh district, killing five Hezbollah fighters.

Another person was injured in a separate strike on al-Khiam and a child was wounded in artillery shelling on al-Wazzani.

Since last week, tensions have soared as Iran and Tehran-backed groups, including Hezbollah, vowed revenge for the killing of Hamas's political leader in Tehran and Israel's killing of the Lebanese group's military chief in Beirut.

Hezbollah has traded near-daily fire with Israel in support of its ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.

In Beirut, shops are open and traffic is as snarled as ever. In Tel Aviv, cafes hum with patrons and umbrellas sprout across crowded beaches.

Such scenes may seem surreal in a region teetering on the edge of all-out war — and beneath the surface there is plenty of fear and anxiety. But after 10 months of near-daily border skirmishes, strikes further afield and escalating threats, a sense of fatalism seems to have set in.