In a statement on Sunday evening, Al-Azhar said the only way to avoid dangerous escalations in the region is to stop the aggression against Gaza.

“Al-Azhar strongly condemns the occupation's continued destabilization of the region and the serious escalation witnessed in Lebanese Arab territories due to airstrikes by the occupying forces,” read the statement.

“These actions exacerbate the war waged by the occupying entity on Palestinian lands and northern occupied Palestine,” Al-Azhar said.

Al-Azhar also warned that the continuation of killings, terrorism, and the prolongation of the aggression on Gaza, as well as endeavours to widen this unjust war, are unacceptable.

Al-Azhar urged the international community to assume its moral responsibility by upholding international law and conventions to stop this ongoing terrorism and hold all occupation leaders accountable for the war crimes committed during these massacres, which have persisted for eleven months.

In the early hours of Sunday, Hezbollah carried out a large-scale attack with rockets and drones on Israeli positions in an initial response to the assassination of the Lebanese group’s top commander Fouad Shukur, as Israel launched what it called pre-emptive strikes against the group.

The "first phase has ended with total success", the Lebanese militant group said, adding that this phase sought to target Israeli barracks and positions to facilitate the passage of attack drones towards targets deep inside Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed "to do everything" to ensure the security of residents of northern Israel.

The Iran-backed group has exchanged regular fire with Israel since the outbreak of the war on Gaza in October 2023.

However, fears of a wider conflict grew after Iran and Hezbollah vowed revenge for the Israeli assassinations of Shukur in Beirut and Hamas political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran in July.

Many governments have urged their nationals to leave Lebanon and several international airlines have suspended flights to and from Israel and to and from Lebanon amid these escalations.