Israel is attempting a risky strategy, increasing the intensity of its attacks in an attempt to force Hezbollah to back down, while raising the chances of an aggressive response that devolves into a land war.

Israel launched a rare airstrike that killed a senior Hezbollah military official in a densely populated neighborhood of southern Beirut on Friday, the Israeli army said. It was the deadliest such attack on Lebanon’s capital in years.

Amid fears of an expanding war in the Middle East following mass detentions of bombs surreptitiously planted in Hezbollah communication devices, Israel continued its assault of the Iran-backed militia overnight.