In rugged terrain along the Syrian-Lebanese border, yellow bulldozers raised earthen berms in front of armored vehicles while soldiers combed through tunnels they said were used by Hezbollah, as Syria reinforces its side of the border.

Syria is seeking to stay out of the regional war, whose flames have reached neighboring Lebanon, where Hezbollah is fighting a fierce conflict with Israel.

Hezbollah said its fighters launched drones and rockets at northern Israel on Thursday, with the Israeli military's Home Front Command saying air raid sirens were activated across the border.

In north Israel, Hezbollah targeted Even Menachem, Ga'aton, Wadi Hunin, Yir'on, Malikiyah, Avivim, Metula, Kiryat Shmona, Safad, Beit Hillel, Misgav Am and Kiryat Ata east of Haifa, with attack drones and rocket salvos.

Israel said it came under Iranian missile fire on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to bomb the Islamic republic into the "Stone Ages" in the coming weeks.

Iran's military vowed on Thursday to carry out "crushing" attacks against the United States and Israel after Trump's threats.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards insisted on Wednesday that the strategic strait of Hormuz will remain closed to the country's "enemies" as U.S. President Donald Trump said he would only consider a ceasefire if it was reopened.

Whenever war rocks northern Israel, residents of Kiryat Shmona live their lives to the rhythm of rocket sirens. Young people have left the city, and those who remain feel neglected by the government.

Some mere three kilometers from Lebanon, this northern settlement is living through its second war in less than three years, not counting Israel's 12-day war with Iran last June, or the war with Hamas in Gaza.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran has asked for a ceasefire but that the United States would only consider this once the Strait of Hormuz is clear for shipping.

Iran's president "has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!"

President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday France had not been consulted and wasn't taking part in the war against Iran, after U.S. leader Donald Trump criticized the country's overflight ban on planes carrying military supplies for the conflict.

An Israeli strike in the Jnah area of Beirut early on Wednesday killed Hezbollah's top commander for Iraq military affairs, Youssef Hashem, a Lebanese security source and a Hezbollah source both told AFP.

The security source said "a senior Hezbollah official, who is the military chief for the Iraq file, named Youssef Hashem, was killed in the strike on the Jnah area in Beirut," adding that "he was in a meeting inside a tent near several vehicles".

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called NATO "the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen" Wednesday following renewed criticism of the group by U.S. President Donald Trump.

"It has kept us safe for many decades, and we are fully committed to NATO," Starmer told a press conference, after Trump told the UK's Telegraph newspaper that the alliance was a "paper tiger".

The Lebanese army said its forces have largely withdrawn from some border towns as Israeli troops continue to push a ground invasion into the country.

The military said in a statement that troops had to reposition to prevent being dispersed and cut off from support lines "as a result of the escalation of the Israeli aggression".