Hezbollah’s leader warned that a regional war with Israel was a realistic possibility, as fears grew that the conflict in Gaza could spill into a second battlefront with the Lebanese militant group.

Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary-general, spoke on Friday for the first time since a series of attacks by Hamas killed 1,400 people in southern Israel and sparked a devastating bombing campaign and ground invasion. He said Hezbollah would step up military pressure on Israel, with which it has been engaging in tit-for-tat exchanges of fire, but said the time isn’t right for all-out war.