Lebanon said 10 more people were killed in Israeli strikes in the country's south today, bringing the day's toll to at least 22 dead.
The health ministry said six people "including three children and two women" were killed in the town of Arab Salim, while another child was killed in a strike on Harouf and three more people "including two children" were killed in Roumin, all in south Lebanon.
Earlier, the health ministry reported 12 people killed in attacks targeting cars, mostly south of Beirut, despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The fresh raids, which also targeted various areas of the country's south, came on the eve of a new round of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in Washington brokered by the United States, as Hezbollah remains strongly opposed to the move.
Lebanon's health ministry said three strikes on cars along or near the coastal highway around 20 to 30 kilometres from capital Beirut "resulted in eight martyrs, including two children".
Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) said two strikes hit cars on the busy highway linking Beirut to the country's south, while a third struck nearby.
An AFP photographer saw a burnt-out car and rescuers carrying a body at one of the sites, near Jiyeh.
A fourth strike hit a car in Sidon, southern Lebanon's largest city, around 40 kilometres south of Beirut, with the health ministry reporting one dead there.
The ministry also said Israeli strikes on another three cars in south Lebanon's Tyre district killed three more people.
Under the terms of the 17 April ceasefire released by Washington, Israel reserves the right to act against "planned, imminent or ongoing attacks".
Drone attacks
Israeli attacks since the ceasefire have killed more than 400 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures.
Israel's army said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure, weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers in south Lebanon on Wednesday.
The NNA reported strikes on several south Lebanon locations, including in the Tyre district.
An AFP correspondent saw thick smoke from Burj al-Shemali, one of nine areas where Israel's army issued evacuation warnings.
Hezbollah claimed several attacks on Israeli troops who have invaded southern Lebanon, including with drones, and said its fighters "ambushed" and clashed with Israeli forces in one area.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said it was "increasingly concerned" about the activities of Hezbollah fighters and Israeli soldiers near UN positions in south Lebanon.
That includes "the increased use of drones, which has resulted in explosions in and around our bases and put peacekeepers at risk", a UNIFIL statement said.
It noted several incidents in recent days in which drones presumed to belong to Hezbollah detonated in or near UN positions, including the force's Naqura headquarters.
Hezbollah has increasingly been using cheap fibre-optic drones for its attacks on Israeli forces.
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Civil defence funeral
In Sidon, an AFP correspondent saw dozens of mourners at the funeral for two Lebanese civil defence personnel killed in an Israeli strike a day earlier.
Fellow civil defence personnel holding Lebanese flags lined up for an honour guard as the coffins passed, also draped in the national flag, with a rescue helmet and flak jacket placed on top.
This week Beirut asked Washington to pressure Israel to halt its strikes ahead of the talks on Thursday and Friday.
Veteran diplomat Simon Karam will head the talks for Lebanon for the first time, as Washington seeks a historic breakthrough between the two sides despite the ongoing hostilities.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem warned that his fighters would turn the battlefield into "hell" for Israel.
Since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the wider regional war in early March, authorities say more than 2,800 people have been killed, including at least 200 children.
Hezbollah says the toll includes its fighters.
Israeli troops are operating inside an Israeli-declared "yellow line" which runs around 10 kilometres north of the Israel-Lebanon border.
Gaza envoy says ceasefire holding but 'far from perfect'
The high representative for Gaza in US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace has said the fragile ceasefire in the Palestinian territory was holding despite daily violations.
"We have a ceasefire. It is holding... It is far from perfect. There are violations every day, and some of them are very serious," said Nickolay Mladenov during a meeting with the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem.
The ceasefire officially came into force on 10 October, shortly after the second anniversary of the outbreak of the war triggered by Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
Gaza remains gripped by violence, as Israeli strikes continue and both sides trade blame over ceasefire violations.
The first phase of the truce saw the release of the last hostages seized in October 2023, in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.
The transition to the second phase - involving Hamas's disarmament and a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army, which still controls more than 50% of the Gaza Strip - has been stalled for weeks, while international attention has been focused on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.
Mr Mladenov urged Hamas to relinquish power over the parts of the Gaza Strip it controls and lay down its weapons.
"We are asking the political leadership of those who govern Gaza now to step aside. This is required by the Security Council resolution in the 20-point plan," said the envoy, referring to the peace plan for the territory sponsored by the US president.
"We are not asking Hamas to disappear as a political movement. A political party that disavows armed activity can compete in national Palestinian elections," he said.
"What is not negotiable, however, is that armed factions or militias... can exist alongside a transitional Palestinian authority," he continued.
For those who refuse disarmament, the plan offers the option of "safe passage to third countries", he added.
Mr Mladenov meanwhile pointed to the scale of destruction in the Palestinian territory, noting that it would take a long time to rebuild.
"If we look at the tens of millions of tons of rubble that needs to be removed, at the number of people, over a million people, who need some sort of permanent shelter and basic water and sanitation - this is, by any scale, a generation of work for Gaza," said Mr Mladenov.
