Hezbollah ‘enters battle of reckoning’ with Israel as world powers urge restraint

Both sides engage in significant escalation in conflict, prompting UN to say region is on brink of imminent catastrophe'

Hezbollah has said it has entered an open-ended battle of reckoning" with Israel after launching a series of rocket attacks on the north of the country as world powers implored both sides to step back from the brink of all-out war.

In a significant escalation of the conflict, Israeli warplanes carried out their most intense bombardment in almost a year across southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah responded with its deepest rocket attacks into Israel since the start of the Gaza war.