Fears grow of all-out Israel-Hezbollah war as fighting escalates

Many in Israel see Hezbollah as a greater threat than Hamas and consider a new war in Lebanon to be inevitable

• Israel-Gaza war – live updates

When the news first broke of the Hamas attack early on 7 October, Itai Reuveni and the other reservists in his paratrooper battalion packed their bags and arrived at their muster point well before their call-up came from the army.

The paratroopers did not head south to Gaza but to the northern border, where they believed a far greater threat than Hamas was poised to join the fight: Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia movement backed by Tehran.