Israel's strikes in Lebanon fit a pattern 'of a slow and steady escalation' Israel's strikes in Lebanon fit a pattern "of a slow and steady escalation", said Andrew Hilliar, FRANCE24's correspondent in Jerusalem. It began in October, with "tit for tat squirmishes between Hezbollah militants and the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), and since then, there has been a steady increase of military and civilian deaths on both sides", said Hilliar.