JERUSALEM

The Israeli army on Thursday said its air defenses downed two drones that were fired from Lebanon, and struck areas across southern Lebanon as clashes with Hezbollah continue.

In a statement, the Israeli army said "a suspected aerial object" entered Israeli space and was shot down by the army's air defenses over the Bar'am border area.

The incident triggered the activation of the rocket in-coming sirens in the area over fear of falling shrapnel from the interception operation, the military statement added.

In another statement, the army announced intercepting a drone off the coast of Nahariya.

Earlier, the Israeli army reported carrying out a series of raids on what it said Hezbollah military sites in the southern Lebanese towns of Odaisseh, Mays al-Jabal and Chihine.

The Hezbollah group is yet to comment on the Israeli statement.

Fears have grown about a full-fledged war between Israel and Hezbollah amid an exchange of almost daily attacks.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of a deadly Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 39,100 people since Oct. 7 last year following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar