Violence escalated further on the Israel-Lebanon border on Tuesday, prompting many Lebanese villagers to flee their homes as the Israeli army appeared to have decided to expand its artillery bombardment, according to German Agency sources.

Members of the military wing of Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah movement, which is close to Iran and is considered an ally of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, carried out at least three attacks against Israeli positions near the border. In response, the Israeli army bombed a cluster of border villages, according to a dpa source in the Lebanese security forces.

Shells fell inside the village of Aita al-Shaab, according to this source. Artillery strikes were also reported in at least four other villages in southern Lebanon (Kfar Chuba, Markba, Marwahin, Yaroun), he added.

The Israeli military said it hit a “terrorist cell” in Lebanon that fired a rocket in the direction of its territory.

No Israeli casualties were reported in the attacks.

According to Hezbollah, six more of its fighters were killed on Tuesday.

Since Israel launched a war against Hamas and began relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip following its unprecedented attack on Israeli territory on October 7, tensions have skyrocketed along its northern border, with practically daily exchanges of fire and dozens of deaths — at least 47 in Lebanon, mostly fighters, according to an AFP tally.

Hezbollah says at least 33 dead in its ranks, while the Israeli army said the day before Monday about 7 of its own losses. Many civilians have also been killed or injured, including a Reuters cameraman.

The situation worries the UN, whose peacekeeping force in Lebanon fears a flare-up, in the image of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

On Sunday, Israel’s military accused Hezbollah of seeking escalation, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Lebanese Shiite party that it would make “the mistake of its life” if it went to war with his country.