Hezbollah attack wounds two Israelis amid new efforts to ease tensions

Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia, fired rockets into northern Israel on Tuesday, wounding at least two people, aid officials said, amid a new diplomatic effort to end months of clashes along the border.

Hezbollah said it had launched two separate attacks on Israel: one targeting Israeli soldiers and the other on a police building in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona.

A 15-year-old boy and a 47-year-old woman were seriously injured in Kiryat Shmona, according to Magen David Adom, Israel's nonprofit emergency medical service. They had gotten out of the car they were driving when an anti-tank missile struck nearby, but were injured when another landed, said Ofir Yehezkeli, deputy mayor of Kiryat Shmona.

Israel and Hezbollah – an ally of Hamas in Gaza – have been involved in almost daily cross-border attacks since the deadly October 7 Hamas-led attacks in Israel. The clashes have driven more than 150,000 people from their homes on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border.

The United States and others have made diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions. A Western diplomat said on Tuesday that France has presented a proposal to Israel, the Lebanese government and Hezbollah. The French proposal was first reported by Reuters.

The proposal outlines a 10-day process of de-escalation and calls on Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters within 10 kilometers of the Lebanese border with Israel, according to the diplomat involved in the talks who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive discuss deliberations. The diplomat said French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné presented the proposal in writing to the Lebanese government during a visit to the country last week.

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry confirmed that the government had received the proposal. The French Foreign Ministry and Hezbollah did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In recent weeks, Israel has warned that unless a diplomatic solution is reached, it would have to use military force to stop Hezbollah's attacks so that tens of thousands of Israelis could return to their homes.

Patrick Kingsley, Roger Cohen And Cassandra Vinograd reporting contributed.