Pentagon chief calls on Israel to curtail Beirut strikes

The United States would like to see Israel scale back some of its strikes in and around the Lebanese capital of Beirut, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said, adding the number of civilian casualties was "far too high".

Mr Austin's comments came hours after Israel carried out heavy strikes on several locations in the city's southern suburbs, leaving thick plumes of smoke rising over the city horizon throughout the evening.

Israel said it struck arms facilities belonging to Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the southern suburbs - once a densely populated zone that also housed Hezbollah offices and underground installations - since Israel began regular strikes there about three weeks ago.

"We'd like to see Israel scale back on some of the strikes it's taking, especially in and around Beirut," Mr Austin told reporters at a G7 defence summit in the Italian city of Naples.

"And we'd like to see things transition to some sort of negotiation that will allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes," he added.

G7 defence ministers are attending the summit against the backdrop of multiple ongoing military conflicts and expressed concern over escalation in Lebanon.

Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israel since the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas began in Gaza last October.

But nearly three weeks ago, Israel launched a ground assault inside Lebanon in an attempt to stabilise the border region for its citizens who had fled the fighting.

Mr Austin said he had asked his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, about reported Israeli attacks on positions of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.

The UN mission, known as UNIFIL, said yesterday it had come under several "deliberate" attacks by Israeli forces in recent days and efforts to help civilians in villages in the warzone were being hampered by Israeli shelling.

There are 379 Irish troops serving as peacekeepers with UNIFIL in Lebanon.

The US Defence Secretary said that Mr Gallant "assured me there's no intent of him or his forces to target UNIFIL forces".

"Again, I continue to emphasise how important it is that those forces don't come under attack," he added.

It follows comments from the European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell in which, he said, the mission of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon "needs to be reviewed" and possibly strengthened.

Mr Borrell was speaking on the sidelines of a G7 defence summit.

He suggested that the peacekeepers' mandate should be beefed up by the UN Security Council to give them more scope to act amid repeated attacks on their positions, which they blame on Israeli forces.

"They cannot act by themselves, it is certainly a limited role," he said.

"It could be considered to expand the role but this requires a United Nations Security Council decision," he added.

He wrote on social media that "a more robust mandate for UNIFIL" was needed.

The EU's foreign policy chief echoed the words of US President Joe Biden that the death of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar could mark an opportunity to bring about the end of hostilities.

"Certainly, after the killing of Yahya Sinwar, a new perspective is open and we have to use it in order to reach a ceasefire, to release the remaining hostages and to look for a political perspective," Mr Borrell told journalists.

The G7 joint declaration called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas, saying attacks and retaliation risked "fuelling uncontrollable escalation in the Middle East".

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described the recent strikes on UNIFIL as "unacceptable".

Italy has around 1,000 troops in the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, which has soldiers from more than 50 countries.

Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attempt of Hezbollah to attack him and his wife was "a grave mistake," after his spokesman said a drone was launched from Lebanon at his holiday home.

Iran's United Nations mission said that Hezbollah, armed and financed by Tehran, was behind the drone attack.

"This action was taken by the Lebanese Hezbollah," the mission said in response to a question about Iran's role in the attack, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Mr Netanyahu's office said earlier that a drone was launched toward his residence in Caesarea, after the military reported a drone from Lebanon had "hit a structure" in the central Israeli town.

"A UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) was launched toward the prime minister's residence in Caesarea. The prime minister and his wife were not at the location, and there were no injuries in the incident," Mr Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

The military said three drones had been fired from Lebanon and it had intercepted two.

The Israeli army said at least 115 projectiles have been fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, with sirens blaring across northern Israel at regular intervals.

Hezbollah said it fired rockets at northern Israel, including at a military base near the city of Haifa.

The "large salvo" of advanced rockets hit a military base east of Haifa, said Hezbollah, which has vowed to intensify attacks on Israel weeks into an all-out war that erupted on 23 September.

In an earlier statement, the Iran-backed group said it targeted a region north of Haifa city with a rocket salvo.

One man was killed by shrapnel near the port city of Acre, Israeli emergency services said.

A spokesperson for emergency service provider Magen David Adom said five people were injured in Kiryat Ata, in the Haifa district, mostly from shrapnel injuries.

A rocket damaged a three-storey building and burned two cars in Kiryat Ata, with firefighting teams and ambulances dispatched to the area, AFP footage showed.

On Thursday, Hezbollah said it was opening a new "escalatory phase" in its war with Israel.

Late last month, Israel dramatically stepped up its air strikes on Lebanon and sent in ground forces after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges.

Two killed in Israeli strike on Jounieh

Lebanese authorities said two people were killed in an Israeli strike in Jounieh, north of Beirut, the first attack on the Christian-majority town since Hezbollah and Israel started trading fire last year.

The strike occurred on the highway connecting Beirut to northern Lebanon, prompting a large deployment of troops and security forces, said an AFP correspondent in the area.

The road, a key artery for those fleeing the Israel-Hezbollah war since it erupted in the south last month, suffered minimal damage.

The health ministry said an Israeli raid there killed two people.

The official National News Agency said a man and his wife were killed in a drone strike on their four-wheel drive.

They were hit in a field adjacent to the road after escaping an initial strike near their vehicle, NNA said, without identifying them.

"I saw them run out of the car," said a witness who asked to remain anonymous. "They were then hit again."

Since late September, the war has left at least 1,418 people dead in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.