The Israel-Hezbollah line of contact flared into open fighting overnight as Hezbollah attacked Israeli civilian power line repair crews and an Israeli military base, and Israel responded with airstrikes.

Early Sunday, an Israeli line crew from the Israel Electric Corporation working to repair downed power lines less than a mile from the Lebanon border near Dovev in Upper Galilee came under fire from a Hezbollah position. 

The crew's vehicle was struck by an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), wounding five workers and killing one.

On the Lebanese border, Hezbollah uses an anti-tank missile to target 6 Israeli linesmen making repairs. Five were seriously injured, and one was mortally wounded. Hezbollah says the men were re-installing surveillance devices that it had previously destroyed. pic.twitter.com/iY4O8fbGH8

— Mike (@Doranimated) November 12, 2023

Hezbollah also used mortars to attack an Israeli military base in the same area.

🔴 Israel Defense Forces confirms that 7 Israeli soldiers were wounded as a result of mortar fire opened by Hezbollah fighters in the direction of Israeli army positions in the evening.

Earlier in the day, 10 people were injured by Hezbollah rocket attacks. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/8oDvouGuLc

— WORLD MILITARY (@Sabanado1) November 12, 2023

Another ATGM targeted a civilian backhoe on a civilian transporter.

#BREAKING

An actual war..no longer clashes..this is war!#Hezbollah retaliates to Zionist aggression on Lebanon by targeting truck loading a bulldozer in Northern Palestine, Al-Jarfa. pic.twitter.com/BDosZxXcla

— Marwa Osman || مروة عثمان (@Marwa__Osman) November 12, 2023

These attacks precipitated Israeli artillery and airstrikes against Hezbollah positions.

The IDF struck a number of targets belonging to #Hezbollah in southern #Lebanon in response to a series of rocket and anti-tank missile attacks against Israel today. The terrorist cell which carried out the attack near Dovev and two other terrorist cells were eliminated. pic.twitter.com/QyLyZkgdLP

— Tzvi Joffre (@TzviJoffre) November 12, 2023

This increase in combat follows a pattern that has been developing since Hamas terrorists in Gaza are something of a joke when they aren't killing and kidnapping women and children.

It may also indicate that the war in Gaza is about to expand into a war that encompasses the Israel-Hezbollah contact line.

In his speech on November 3, Nasrallah, the shadowy Hezbollah terrorist chieftain and de facto ruler of Lebanon, Hasan Nasrallah, seemed to say that Hezbollah had done all it was going to do to aid Hamas and had no interest in having another go at the IDF; NEW: Hezbollah Leader Issues Threats Against United States and Israel.

We already embarked on this battle on October 8th...A significant portion of the Zionist forces deployed to the northern front comprises elite units, and nearly half of Israel’s naval capabilities are positioned in the Mediterranean, facing us and Haifa. A quarter of the Israeli air force has been redirected toward Lebanon, and almost half of the missile defense systems are oriented towards the Lebanon front, this has led to the displacement of tens of thousands of settlers in the region.

As the Hamas terrorist network is getting ground down in Gaza with little to show for it but street demonstrations by twits who are in no danger of having to do anything about their "river to the sea" twaddle, it seems inevitable that Hezbollah's paymasters in Tehran will require it to take a more active and muscular role in the conflict. They know Hezbollah is one of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's favorites (Yemeni Houthis Shoot Down US Reaper Over Red Sea, the White House Response Is Crickets). Because of that, the US is likely to lean heavily on Israel to keep it from meting out the punishment Hezbollah deserves. Pushing Hezbollah into a conflict it does not want would carry no risk for Iran, little downside risk for Hezbollah as an organization, plus it would burnish Iran's image as a protector of terrorists throughout the region. It may be too much temptation for the mullahs in Tehran to resist.