Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah traded deadly blows on Thursday as their war raged on despite signs of progress in U.S. ceasefire efforts, with airstrikes pounding Beirut's southern suburbs and rockets flying into northern Israel.

As U.S. diplomat Amos Hochstein visited the region to push for a ceasefire, Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Bekaa region, and a barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon killed a man in northern Israel.

For years, Israelis were told that in the next war with Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia would fire thousands of rockets and missiles a day, overwhelming their air defenses, causing blackouts, death and destruction.