Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Israel trade heavy cross-border fire

Amid the risk of regional escalation, US secretary of state Antony Blinken has kicked off an urgent diplomatic tour of the Middle East

Hezbollah fighters have launched rockets towards Israel (AP)

Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah have traded fire in one of the heaviest days of cross-border fighting in recent weeks.

The clashes come a day after the militia’s leader urged retaliation over the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top Hamas leader in Lebanon’s capital.