Israel said it killed a commander of Hezbollah in an airstrike، prompting Lebanon to warn this week’s escalation of fire across its border could spark a wider war.

A senior member of the Iran-backed group’s elite Radwan Force was killed along with two others in the southern Lebanese town of Nabatiyeh، the Israeli army said Thursday. That was part of a series of attacks carried out by Israel Wednesday in response to rockets suspected of being fired by Hezbollah into Israel’s north. 

Hitting the Israeli town of Safed

One person was killed in that earlier missile barrage، which hit the Israeli town of Safed and an army base about 15 kilometers from the border with Lebanon، deeper than any previous attack. Israel’s retaliatory strikes killed at least eight people including women and children، Lebanon’s state-run news agency said. 

While Hezbollah didn’t claim responsibility for the strike that killed an Israeli soldier، the attack came from an area controlled by the group. 

Concerns of a war between Hezbollah، the Middle East’s most powerful militia، and Israel have been rising since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are supported by Iran and considered terrorist organizations by the US.

An escalation in the Hezbollah conflict would engage the Jewish state in a second deadly front and have the potential to further devastate Lebanon، a country already struggling with a severe economic crisis and all-but powerless government. 

Nicolas Nahhas، an adviser to Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati، said his country shouldn’t give Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an excuse to start another war. However، the authorities have little، if any، control over Hezbollah.  

“In Lebanon، we are living day by day and watching the situation closely،” Nahhas said. “A war on Lebanon is a possibility at any given time but we as Lebanese shouldn’t give Netanyahu any excuse.”

Hezbollah said Thursday it hit four army posts along the border with Israel including what it said was surveillance equipment، according to separate statements. Israel has also struck several villages in south Lebanon.