An Israeli airstrike has cut a highway linking two neighbouring countries - as fears of a regional war in the Middle East continue to rise.

On Friday, an IDF airstrike cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria, leaving two huge craters on either side of the road.

The strike left the road unusable for car users, forcing people attempting to flee Lebanon and the escalating conflict to cross the Masnaa Border Crossing into Syria on foot.

Thousands of Lebanese people have taken the route in recent weeks, following Israeli operations against the powerful Hezbollah militia in the country's south.

In recent weeks Israel has launched strikes against them, including remotely blowing up thousands of pagers and other communication equipment and assassinating key figures in the group, including leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah, which is backed by Israel's regional rival Iran, has been firing rockets into northern Israel since October 8, 2023 - one day after the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 that left more than 1,100 Israelis dead and triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

Tens of thousands of Israelis in the north of the country have left their homes as a result of the Hezbollah attacks.

Israel began a ground incursion into Lebanon on Tuesday, while continuing strikes in Gaza.

The Israeli military said nine soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.

Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war in Gaza started, most of them since September 23, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Elsewhere in the country on Friday, a hospital in southern Lebanon said it had been shelled by Israeli forces after being warned to evacuate.

The statement from Salah Ghandour Hospital in the town of Bint Jbeil said the attack “resulted in nine members of the medical and nursing staff being injured, most of them seriously,” while most of the medical staff were evacuated.

A day earlier, the World Health Organization said 28 health workers in Lebanon had been killed in the past 24 hours.

On Friday, the Israeli military alleged rescue vehicles were being used by Hezbollah to transport militants and weapons.