ISTANBUL

Exchanges of attacks between the Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel continue, with the confrontation increasingly spilling over into Lebanon, as regional tensions rise amid the ongoing Israel-US offensive on Iran and Tehran's retaliatory attacks.

Hezbollah said it targeted a concentration of vehicles belonging to the Israeli army in the town of Markaba in southern Lebanon for the third time with a volley of rockets, as clashes between the two sides continue along the border area.

In a related development, a heavy Israeli airstrike hit the area of Borj el-Barajneh in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a district widely considered a stronghold of Hezbollah, Anadolu correspondent reported.

The strike came after a series of Israeli air raids targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier in the day, following an announcement by the Israeli army that it had begun a new wave of attacks.

The Israeli military had earlier issued warnings to thousands of residents in the southern suburbs, urging them to evacuate the area ahead of the strikes, saying the operations were aimed at sites linked to Hezbollah.

While Israel says the raids target Hezbollah infrastructure, the Lebanese National News Agency reported that the Israeli bombardment also struck civilian facilities and residential areas.

The developments come as concerns grow about the possibility of the conflict widening across the region.

Israel and the US have continued a large-scale offensive on Iran since Saturday, while Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, as well as Gulf countries hosting US military assets.