JERUSALEM 

The Israeli army said Monday it had launched a drone attack into Lebanese territories amid rising tensions with the Hezbollah group. 

The attack targeted gunmen preparing to launch an anti-tank guided missile from the area of Mount Dov (Shebaa Farms) into northern Israel, the army said in a statement.

Amid the conflict in the Gaza Strip, tension has flared along the border between Israel and Lebanon, with exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

The border clashes have been the deadliest since Hezbollah and Israel fought a full-scale war in 2006, when the Lebanese group struck major Israeli cities with rockets, causing significant damage.

More than 1,000 Lebanese were killed in the war, while much of southern Lebanon -- a Hezbollah stronghold -- was devastated by Israeli attacks.

An Israeli spokesman earlier said the army had eliminated more than 20 Hezbollah cells in southern Lebanon since Oct. 7.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), around 19,646 people have fled their homes in southern Lebanon as a result of the current tension between Hezbollah and Israel.

The border tension comes as Israel continued a relentless bombardment campaign on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Israeli border towns on Oct. 7.

At least 5,087 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave, while the figure stands at more than 1,400 people in Israel.  

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara