Israel appeared to be gearing up for a ground invasion of Lebanon as hundreds of tanks massed on the country’s northern border.
Soldiers carrying wrenches made final preparations to their armoured vehicles as plumes of smoke rose from wildfires started by Hezbollah rockets.
The United States issued a last-minute appeal to both sides for restraint, warning Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, that war would not return 60,000 displaced Israelis to their homes in the north of the country.
Israeli reservists, savouring a final takeaway at petrol stations near the Lebanese border, were resolved to their task, energised by the news that Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut on Friday.
“We must do what we