Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into northern Israel on Tuesday as the group's Deputy Secretary-General Naim Kassem issued a defiant address vowing to defeat Israel's operations in Lebanon. More Israelis in the north of the country will be displaced as Hezbollah expands its operations, he said.

The widening conflict risks drawing in the United States, which has provided crucial military and diplomatic support to Israel, as well as U.S.-allied Arab countries that host American forces.

Israel stepped up air and ground attacks on Hamas in Gaza, killing at least 52 people according to Palestinian medics, on the first anniversary of a war that has left most of the territory in ruins and shattered the lives of its people.