The Lebanese organization stated on Thursday that Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had a meeting with Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, which has been exchanging lethal cross-border gunfire with Israel since the beginning of the Gaza war.
There have been increasing gunfire exchanges along the Israel-Hamas border since the war broke out on October 7. These exchanges have mostly involved Israel and Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran, as well as Palestinian organizations.
The clashes have raised fears of a broader conflagration.In a statement, Hezbollah said Amir-Abdollahian and Nasrallah “reviewed the latest developments in Palestine, Lebanon and the region, and… the efforts made to end the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip”.
Amir-Abdollahian, who warned on Wednesday that the war could spiral out of control, left Beirut for Doha after their meeting, Iran’s Nour news agency reported.
About 10 kilometers (six miles) from the border, at the military base at Ein Zeitim, close to the town of Safed in northern Israel, Hezbollah stated on Thursday morning that it had fired 48 Katyusha rockets.
It claimed to have killed people in at least ten further attacks it carried out on Israeli forces close to the border. In retaliation, the Israeli army shelled multiple areas in southern Lebanon, according to the National News Agency of Lebanon.
Hezbollah says it has been acting in support of Hamas since the Palestinian Islamist movement’s October 7 attacks on Israel, which Israeli officials say killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw about 240 people taken hostage.
The Hamas leadership, which governs the Palestinian region, claims that Israel’s retaliatory air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed over 14,000 people, thousands of them children. Israel has threatened to destroy Hamas.
According to an AFP count, the war between Israel and Hezbollah has killed at least 108 people in Lebanon, the majority of them were Hezbollah combatants, but there have also been at least 14 civilian deaths, including three journalists.
The Israeli authorities report that three civilians and six troops have died on the Israeli side.
