Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have escalated in the border area of south Lebanon, with both sides engaging in air strikes and rocket attacks.

The coastal Lebanese town of Ghaziyeh was rocked by at least two air strikes on Monday (local time), as witnesses reported hearing loud booms and seeing thick black columns of smoke rising from the area. The strikes, which occurred near the port city of Sidon, were attributed to the Israeli military’s targeting of weapons depots. The proximity of Ghaziyeh to Sidon is (37 miles) north of the border with Israel.

According to Lebanese state media, the strikes were confirmed to be Israeli, with reports indicating that a car was among the targets hit. Lebanese security sources revealed that the air strikes targeted factories and warehouses in an industrial area south of Sidon. However, the exact nature of the targets remained unclear. The strikes resulted in injuries, with at least 14 individuals, primarily Syrian workers, reported to have been hurt.

Israeli’s chief military spokesperson justified the air strikes as a response to a drone launched into Israel by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have escalated in the border area of south Lebanon, with both sides engaging in air strikes and rocket attacks. Israel’s rare strikes further north of the frontier zone have resulted in the deaths of over 170 Hezbollah fighters and nearly three dozen civilians, according to reports.

More than 170 Hezbollah fighters and nearly three dozen civilians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon since Hezbollah launched rockets onto Israel in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas, according to Hezbollah’s announced figures and a Reuters count of civilian deaths .

Hamas fighters launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage into the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s air, land and sea bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 28,000 people since then, Palestinian health officials say.

Last week, two sets of Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed 10 civilians and several Hezbollah fighters, including a commander in the group’s elite Radwan force.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Israel would pay “in blood” for the killings of civilians.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Lebanon would “pay a heavy price” if diplomatic means failed to remove Hezbollah from the border zone.

(With inputs from Reuters)