Hezbollah: Israel 'will pay' after Lebanon strikes kill civilians

Hezbollah has said that Israel would face reprisal after two sets of strikes on southern Lebanon the previous day killed 10 civilians, half of them children.

"The enemy (Israel) will pay the price for these crimes," Senior Hezbollah official and member of parliament Hassan Fadlallah said on Thursday when asked about the group's reaction to the deadliest day for civilians in Lebanon since hostilities began along its southern border .

Hezbollah says its rockets are also deterring Israel from a broader offensive on Lebanon.

The Israeli strikes on Wednesday came after shelling onto a military base in northern Israel killed one soldier and injured seven others. Hezbollah did not claim responsibility for that attack.

Fadlallah said Hezbollah had a "legitimate right to defend its people and will not flinch in doing what is needed to protect it" and insisted that Israel halt its war on Gaza.

Growing tension in the border

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati also instructed foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib to register a new complaint at the United Nations Security Council over the strikes that caused Wednesday's casualties.

Tension has flared along the border between Lebanon and Israel amid intermittent exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, in the deadliest clashes since the two sides fought a full-scale war in 2006.

Hezbollah has been trading fire for more than four months with the Israeli military in support of Palestinian resistance group Hamas after Israel launched military offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 28,500 people so far.