The Hezbollah members fighting in the area south of the Litani River are the sons of the area's villages and towns, supported by fighters from the Bekaa Valley and other regions, including foreigners, a media report said.

Paola Fouad Noun, a 25-year-old born and raised in Beirut, moved to San Francisco after completing her university studies in the United States, where she established herself within a specialized team of engineers in advanced Field Engineering at Ramp.

She played a foundational role in this field before its widespread expansion and transformation into a primary driver of the industry. At Ramp, which is currently valued at $32 billion, Noon holds a prominent position that has allowed her to witness and adapt to the radical shifts in software development methodologies.

While Washington has signaled a diplomatic off-ramp from its war with Iran, Israel is preparing for the opposite in Lebanon -- an open-ended military campaign against Hezbollah.

Analysts said the message from Israel was a blunt one: Hezbollah must be disarmed, and that will take time.

Lebanon's government has been wedged into a war not of its choosing between Hezbollah and Israel, as the Iran-backed militants harden their stance and Israel demands the group's elimination.

Beirut has been struggling to pull the country back from the brink after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2, firing rockets into Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader.

During almost three weeks of war in Lebanon, British-Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu-Sittah has had no respite, telling AFP he has been working "against the clock" to save children wounded in Israeli bombardment.

Forced by yet another war in Lebanon to flee his home for the second time in just two years, and mourning lost relatives and friends, Hassan Kiki said he feels much older than 16.

The line of cars stretched as far as the eye could see along the coast of southern Lebanon, as residents of areas bombarded in the Israel-Hezbollah war poured into the ancient city of Sidon in search of safety.

In southern Lebanon's Ain Ebel, close to the border with Israel, Suad Jallad holds a poster of her son, killed by Israel last week, saying she would rather be buried next to him than leave.

After being forced to flee with his family from Israeli air raids on southern Lebanon, Hussein Fakih searched in vain for an apartment, amid strict measures imposed by hotels and landlords afraid that guests might be targeted by Israel.

Hezbollah suffered heavy losses in a war with Israel more than a year ago, but the Iran-backed group has now regrouped only to end up fighting what it has called an "existential battle" and which some warn could be its last.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when the militant group, funded and armed by Iran, attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in U.S.-Israeli strikes.