The escalation comes after a U.S. envoy traveled to the region to pursue a deal to end months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s capital city is returning to a cycle of violence and destruction just as it was beginning to stabilize after years of chaos.

Israeli forces pounded southern Lebanon and the outskirts of the capital Beirut on Friday, killing at least five medics, and ground troops clashed with Hezbollah fighters in the south. Israel has pushed on with its intense military campaign against the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah,