Hezbollah, Israel exchange heavy fire as fear grows of widening conflict

Israel and Hezbollah exchanged heavy fire into Sunday, with Israeli warplanes carrying out the most intense bombardment in almost a year of conflict across Lebanon's south and Hezbollah firing rockets deep into northern Israel.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said strikes would continue until it was safe for evacuated people in the north to return - setting the stage for a long conflict as Hezbollah has vowed to fight on until a ceasefire in the parallel Gaza war.

"In recent days we have inflicted a series of blows on Hezbollah that it never imagined," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement. "If Hezbollah has not understood the message, I promise you, it will understand the message."

The conflict - which sharply escalated over the past week - has raged since Hezbollah opened a second front against Israel, saying it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians facing an Israeli offensive further south in Gaza.

The Israeli military said it struck around 290 targets on Saturday, including thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels, and that it would continue to hit more.

Israel closed schools, restricted gatherings in the north and ordered hospitals there to move patients and staff to protected areas - many have secured or underground facilities designed to withstand rocket fire.

Air raid sirens sounded constantly in Israel. About 150 rockets, cruise missiles and drones were fired at Israel overnight and into Sunday, most of which were intercepted by air defences, including an "aerial target" that came from the east, the military said.

Several buildings were struck, including a house badly damaged near the Israeli city of Haifa. Rescue teams treated wounded but there were no reports of deaths.