Israel's security cabinet has authorised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister to decide when and how to retaliate for a deadly rocket attack Israel and the US say was carried out by the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah.
Ministers met in emergency session in the wake of the strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday evening, which killed 12 children and teenagers from the Druze community.
Hezbollah has denied responsibility.
It was the deadliest cross-border incident in months of exchanges of fire between the two sides.
The attack has heightened fears that what has been relatively contained hostilities so far could spiral into all-out war.
The White House said it had been in "continuous discussions with Israeli and Lebanese counterparts since the horrific attack" on the playing field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams.
It said it was "also working on a diplomatic solution along the Blue Line [the unofficial frontier between Israel and Lebanon] that will end all attacks once and for all".
On Monday morning an Israeli drone strike outside the Lebanese town of Shaqra, about 6.5km (four miles) from the Israeli border, killed two people, Lebanon's state media said. Hezbollah announced that the dead men were two of its fighters. Israel has not commented on the report.
Meanwhile Air France has become the latest airline to suspend flights to and from Beirut, as anticipation of Israeli retaliation grows.
Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, and Eurowings have similarly suspended flights.
.Here are the top political news stories for today.
Join in on more popular conversations.
