Hassan Nasrallah

Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group said Sunday it had targeted a military position in northern Israel with an armed drone in response to the killing of an Islamist commander.

Israel and the powerful Iran-backed group, a Hamas ally, have exchanged near-daily cross-border fire since the Gaza war erupted on Oct. 7.

Regular puffs of smoke from missile intercepts over northern Israel and fires from air strikes in southern Lebanon are outward signs of a fear that the Gaza war may be expanding into a wider conflict, which analysts say poses risks for both sides.

The EU's representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, had a phone call on Friday with the Cypriot foreign minister, Constantinos Kombos, regarding Hezbollah's recent threats against Cyprus. 

During the call, Borell expressed his solidarity with Cyprus and called for de-escalation in the Middle East. 

The Greek Foreign Ministry expressed its solidarity with the "brother people" of Cyprus in the wake of threats issued by Hezbollah on Wednesday against the island nation's government.

"The threat to use force constitutes a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations," the relevant statement stressed.

Cyprus reacted with incredulity on Thursday to warnings from Lebanon's Hezbollah that the island could be dragged into conflict if tensions with Israel blew up into a fully-fledged war.

Smoke billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Khiam in south Lebanon near the border with Israel on June 8, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah has issued a stark warning, declaring that his Shiite group would engage in unrestrained and unlimited warfare should a broader conflict with Israel erupt. Nasrallah's remarks, reported by Reuters, emphasized that no part of Israel would be immune from Hezbollah's attacks, extending potentially to targets in the Mediterranean.

Hezbollah supporters raise their fists and cheer as they watch a speech given by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on a screen during a ceremony to commemorate the death of senior Hezbollah commander Taleb Sami Abdullah, 55, who was killed last week by an Israeli strike in south Lebanon, in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon, Wednesday, June 19, 2024.

The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Wednesday that nowhere in Israel would be safe if a full-fledged war breaks out between the two foes, and he also threatened Cyprus and other parts of the Mediterranean.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah said Tuesday it launched over 100 rockets at Israeli military positions in retaliation for a strike on the country's east that killed one person the day before.