US envoy to hold ceasefire talks in Beirut

US envoy Amos Hochstein will travel to the Lebanese capital Beirut tomorrow for talks on a ceasefire between militant group Hezbollah and Israel, a Lebanese political source has said.

Lebanese media outlet Voice of Lebanon also reported the visit, quoting Lebanese member of parliament Kassem Hashem.

The US has submitted a new truce proposal to the Lebanese state in the hopes of putting a halt to more than a year of fighting.

Israel has been fighting on two fronts since September, when it intensified air raids on Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and sent in ground troops against the militants in south Lebanon. This followed nearly a year of cross-border clashes that Hezbollah said were in support of Hamas.

An Israeli strike in central Beirut yesterday killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif, Israel's military and the group said.

Four people were killed in the strike, one of relatively few attacks outside the group's strongholds which include southern Beirut.

Previous strikes claimed by Israel have killed senior Hezbollah officials including its leader Hassan Nasrallah in late September. Afif was part of Nasrallah's inner circle.

Late yesterday, Lebanon's health ministry said another Israeli strike in central Beirut killed two people and wounded 22. Firefighters were battling a blaze triggered by the strike in the commercial-residential area.

The education minister later announced Beirut-area schools would close for two days.

Israel's military said it had hit more than 200 targets in Lebanon over 36 hours, including in Beirut's southern suburbs on multiple occasions.

In comparison, the military announced on 21 October that it hit about 300 Hezbollah targets in a 24-hour period, and on 7 October said the number of targets struck in south Lebanon exceeded 120 in just one hour.

Lebanon's military, which is not a party to the conflict, said Israel "directly targeted" an army centre in south Lebanon, killing two soldiers.

Israel's military said about 20 projectiles crossed from Lebanon into Israel, and some were intercepted.

The United Nations force in south Lebanon said peacekeepers were fired upon around 40 times on Saturday, probably by "non-state actor" individuals who tried to prevent a patrol from passing. No injuries were reported.

Several Israeli strikes in recent weeks on Baalbek in east Lebanon and Tyre in the south - both Hezbollah strongholds - hit close to ancient Roman ruins designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Archaeologists and academics were among 300 prominent cultural figures who signed a petition, published yesterday, calling on the United Nations to safeguard Lebanon's heritage and establish "no-target zones".

Israeli strikes in the Tyre region killed 11 people and wounded 48, the Lebanese health ministry said.

Lebanese authorities say more than 3,480 people have been killed since October last year, with most casualties recorded since September.

Israel says 48 soldiers have been killed fighting Hezbollah.