[Source: Reuters]

Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Wednesday its fighters had pushed back advancing Israeli forces in clashes along the border, including in a village where Israeli troops had been filmed hoisting an Israeli flag.

The ground clashes, which are spreading along Lebanon’s mountainous frontier with Israel, took place with the Gaza war still raging and as the Israeli government prepares to retaliate against Iran for a missile attack last week.

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel’s plans in a call. The Middle East has been on edge awaiting Israel’s response to the strike, which Tehran carried out in retaliation for Israel’s escalation in Lebanon, aimed at degrading Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The White House and Netanyahu’s office both reported the phone call without giving any immediate details on what was discussed.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza are both parts of Iran’s network of allied armed movements across the Middle East. Israeli assassinations of Hezbollah leaders have dealt a blow to Iran but the group has vowed to fight on.

Hezbollah said its fighters had fired several rocket salvoes at Israeli troops near the village of Labbouneh in the western part of the border area, close to the Mediterranean coast, and had managed to push them back.

Further east, it said it had attacked Israeli soldiers in the village of Maroun el-Ras and unleashed missile barrages at Israeli forces advancing towards the twin border villages of Mays al-Jabal and Mouhaybib.

Video footage posted on social media showed three Israeli soldiers raising their country’s blue and white flag in Maroun el-Ras, the first time for decades they are known to have done so on Lebanese territory Israel occupied from 1982-2000. Reuters confirmed the location based on visible geographic features.

Amin Sherri, a Hezbollah politician visiting displaced people in schools in Beirut on Wednesday, told reporters that Israeli forces had not been able to achieve their military aims and the Israeli flag raised in the south was up only briefly.

Rocket sirens sounded constantly across northern Israel, including in the major port city of Haifa, following heavy fire from Lebanon. Israel’s military said about 40 projectiles were launched in one barrage at Haifa, some of which were intercepted while others fell in the area.

Israeli ambulance workers said two people were killed in strikes on Kiryat Shmona near the border and at least six were wounded in Haifa.

Israel meanwhile launched airstrikes including at targets far from the border combat zone. The Lebanese health ministry said four people were killed and 10 wounded by a strike in the town of Wardaniyeh, north of Sidon along the coast.