Why Israel-Hezbollah tensions risk boiling over now

CNN— Israel and the Lebanese Iran-backed Islamist group Hezbollah have been ramping up cross-border attacks after months of low-intensity fighting, prompting the Israeli military to warn that it is prepared to launch a large-scale attack on its northern border.

With both sides trading fire for more than eight months, experts say Israel feels it can no longer ignore its northern front or delay taking action there.

A full-blown war appears to have become more likely – even if both sides have no desire for one, analysts believe.

Why are Israel and Hezbollah fighting?

Lebanon and Israel have officially been in a state of war for decades.

Israel launched a devastating invasion of Lebanon in 1982, sending tanks all the way to the capital Beirut, after coming under attack from Palestinian militants in the country. It then occupied southern Lebanon for 22 years until it was driven out by Hezbollah, which emerged from the rubble of the Israeli invasion.

Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Lebanese movement with one of the region’s most powerful paramilitary forces. The “resistance” group is tasked with confronting Israel, which Beirut classifies as an enemy state. Much of the Western world has designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization.