Hezbollah, Iran’s most powerful regional ally, has signaled privately that it does not intend to attack Israel, but Lebanon’s military has bolstered its presence in the country’s south to prevent rocket fire.

Amid rising Iran-Israel tensions, the Israeli military has killed senior Hezbollah commander Mohammad Khadr al-Husseini in southern Lebanon, citing an urgent threat to its northern border. The strike follows Hezbollah’s pledge to retaliate against Israeli and U.

Lebanon’s president and prime minister say their country must stay out of the conflict between Israel and Iran because any engagement would be detrimental to the small nation engulfed in an economic crisis and struggling to recover from the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.