Smoke billows over the southern Lebanese village of El-Khiam near the border with Israel on Jan 17, 2024. (PHOTO / AFP)

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT - Israel's military chief Herzi Halevi on Wednesday warned that the prospects of a "full-fledged war" with Lebanon's Hezbollah have escalated and are "much higher than before".

"I don't know when the war in the north will begin, but I can tell you that the likelihood of it taking place in the next few months is much higher than before," said Halevi during a tour in northern Israel, where he visited a reservists' exercise.

"When we will need to -- we will go forward at full strength," he added.

Halevi said that the drill aims to increase the preparedness of soldiers in the north in the wake of "many lessons learned from the fighting in Gaza".

Hezbollah said its fighters carried out a series of attacks on Israeli sites, while Hamas in Lebanon said it had fired 20 rockets toward the Lehman military barracks in Western Galilee in northern occupied Palestine

Also on Wednesday, a member of Hezbollah and another from Hamas's armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades were killed, and six civilians were wounded in confrontations on the Lebanese-Israeli borders, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua.

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The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the casualties resulted from Israeli warplanes and drones carrying out 19 airstrikes and using heavy artillery shelling on several villages and towns in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah said its fighters carried out a series of attacks on Israeli sites, including the Sadana and Al-Alam sites in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms, and confirmed injuries. Meanwhile, Hamas in Lebanon said it had fired 20 rockets toward the Lehman military barracks in Western Galilee in northern occupied Palestine.

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Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged countries to pressure Israel to stop its attacks in southern Lebanon and its continued violations of Lebanese sovereignty.

Israeli forces and Hezbollah have traded fire across the borders since Oct 8, 2023, after the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict the previous day.

According to official Israeli figures, nine Israeli troops and six civilians have been killed by fire from Lebanon, while Hezbollah claims that 162 of their fighters were killed during the same period.