An Israeli airstrike killed an elite Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon on Monday, the latest in an escalating exchange of strikes along the border that have raised fears of another Mideast war even as the fighting in Gaza exacts a mounting toll on civilians.

The strike on an SUV killed Hezbollah commander Wissam al-Tawil, according to a Lebanese security official. Tawil is the most senior militant in the armed group to have been killed since Hamas’ October 7 attack into southern Israel. Meanwhile, fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants near the main hospital in central Gaza has caused medics, patients and displaced people to flee, witnesses said Monday.