Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel early on Sunday, as Israel’s military said it struck Lebanon with around 100 jets to thwart a larger attack, in one of the biggest clashes in more than 10 months of border warfare. Missiles were visible curling up through the dawn sky, dark vapour trails behind them, as an air raid siren sounded in Israel and a distant blast lit the horizon, while smoke rose over houses in Khiam in southern Lebanon. Three deaths were confirmed in Lebanon and none in Israel, where damage appeared to be limited. Hezbollah indicated it was not planning further strikes yet. Israel’s foreign minister said the country did not seek a full-scale war but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned: “This is not the end of the story.” Any major escalation in the fighting, which began in parallel with the war in Gaza, risks morphing into a regional conflagration drawing in Hezbollah’s backer Iran and Israel’s main ally the United States. Hezbollah said it had fired 320 Katyusha rockets towards Israel and hit 11 military targets in what it called the first phase of its retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Fuad Shukr, a senior commander, last month. A Hezbollah official said it had delayed its retaliation to give a chance for ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks and other “political considerations”. The official said the group had calibrated it to avoid triggering a full-scale war. Israel’s military said it had foiled a much larger attack with pre-emptive airstrikes on 40 launch sites after assessing that Hezbollah was preparing to launch the barrage. Netanyahu said Israel took pre-emptive action against Hezbollah, adding that air defences had intercepted all drones launched against a strategic target in central Israel. Hezbollah dismissed Israel’s statement that the group’s attack had been foiled with pre-emptive strikes, saying it had been able to launch its drones as planned and that the rest of its response to Shukr’s killing would take “some time”. Expectations of an escalation had risen since a missile strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last month killed 12 youngsters and the Israeli military assassinated Shukr in Beirut in response. Flights to and from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv were suspended for around 90 minutes. Some flights to and from Beirut were halted, stranding passengers. “I just want to get out of here by any means possible,” said Rana Saade, a Lebanese woman living in New Jersey. The White House said U.S. President Joe Biden was following events. “We will keep supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, and we will keep working for regional stability,” National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said. The U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon and the U.N.’s special coordinator’s office in the country called on all sides to cease fire, calling the developments “worrying”. Egypt, one of the mediators in Gaza ceasefire talks, warned against the dangers of a new war front opening in Lebanon.