BEIRUT

The Israeli army's warplanes carried out a series of overnight strikes across southern Lebanon amid the ongoing escalation of tensions with the Hezbollah resistance group.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu on Wednesday that Israeli fighter jets bombed the forest areas surrounding the southern Lebanon towns of Zibqine, Chaaitiyeh, and Qlaileh 17 times.

However, the Israeli army claimed to have targeted 30 Hezbollah rocket launching sites and military infrastructure in southern Lebanon in overnight raids, according to the Times of Israel.

Tensions have spiked along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv pressed ahead with a brutal onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 41,000 people since Oct. 7 following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara