MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/. The situation on the border between Lebanon and Israel is deteriorating, Russian Ambassador to Beirut Alexander Rudakov told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

"The situation in southern Lebanon is steadily deteriorating as the parties have clearly stepped up attacks against each other," he said, when asked to comment on the situation on the Lebanon-Israel border.

The diplomat pointed out that "armed clashes have been reaching a more alarming level over the past few days." "Strikes are being carried out on areas far from the border," Rudakov stressed, adding: "Unfortunately, the overall outlook is negative at this point."

According to the envoy, Lebanon’s southernmost areas "can already be described as a kind of a dead zone." "Not only were dozens of Lebanese citizens forced to leave these areas, but in fact, they have nowhere to return to because most residential buildings have either been destroyed or require major repairs," he emphasized.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7 after militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border communities and taking people, including women, children and the elderly, hostage. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out retaliatory strikes on targets in the Strip, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.