Israeli Strikes in Lebanon Kill Hezbollah Commander, Militia Says

Israel launched strikes into southern Lebanon on Monday against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia, which said one of its senior commanders had been killed there, adding to concerns that Israel’s fight against Hamas in Gaza could erupt into a wider regional war.

Hezbollah and Israel have shelled and fired rockets at each other frequently over the past three months, in some of the most intense fighting along the Lebanese border since Israel and Hezbollah were at war in 2006.

The killing of the commander came amid Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s latest trip to the Middle East, part of the Biden administration’s efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spreading to other fronts, and as Israeli officials issued new warnings to their adversaries.

During a visit to northern Israel on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told soldiers guarding the border that Israel was ready “to do whatever is necessary to restore security to the north.”

“Hezbollah got us wrong in a major way in 2006, and is getting us seriously wrong even now,” he said, referring to Israel’s last war with Hezbollah, according to a statement by his office.

Concerns over a wider war have preoccupied the United States and its allies since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks in Israel that killed about 1,200 Israelis and sparked the war in Gaza. Those concerns largely center on three Iranian-backed groups — Hezbollah in Lebanon; the militias in Iraq and Syria; and the Houthis in Yemen, who have launched attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and prompted the United States to dispatch two aircraft carriers to the Eastern Mediterranean in October.

During a visit to Saudi Arabia on Monday, Mr. Blinken met briefly with Josep Borrell, the European Union’s