Israel resumes Beirut strikes as latest attacks on Lebanon kill mayor in southern town

Israel has launched a round of airstrikes on Beirut for the first time in six days as it continues to target Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

The attack comes just a day after Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati said the US government had given him some assurances Israel would ease its strikes in the capital.

In a separate development, it was announced on Wednesday the mayor of the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh was among five people killed by Israeli strikes.

The governor of Nabatieh province confirmed the death of the mayor - while Lebanon's health ministry said the attack had hit a municipal building.

The Israeli military said it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets in the Nabatieh area and dismantled what it called "underground infrastructure".

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In Beirut, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had warned civilians in Dahieh, a busy residential and commercial area in the southern suburbs of the capital, that it would be targeting the area.

In a statement, the IDF said it had been targeting a storage weapons facility.

The Associated Press said its journalists recorded three strikes in the area - the first of which came about an hour after the warning was issued.

Details have not been released of any potential casualties, but it's the first strike on the capital since two attacks killed 22 people in a residential area on 10 October.

Lebanon officials said 15 people had been killed in an Israeli strike on the southern town of Qana on Tuesday night.

Reports said a building appeared to have been the target.

The latest incidents come as the United Nations called for an independent investigation into an Israeli airstrike on an apartment block in Aito in northern Lebanon, which killed at least 22 people, including 12 women and two children.

Meanwhile, Israel has been warned by the US it must do more to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or risk losing funding for weapons.

Joe Biden's administration has told Israel it must increase the amount of aid it is allowing into Gaza within the next 30 days.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin made the warning in a letter to their Israeli counterparts.

It came amid deteriorating conditions in northern Gaza and reports Israel had conducted a strike on the site of a hospital tent which left at least four people dead.

UN humanitarian officials said aid entering Gaza is at its lowest level in months.

Some 80 trucks are said to have travelled across northern crossings this month, while the US said aid has "fallen by over 50% from where it was at its peak".

For Israel to continue qualifying for foreign military financing, the level of aid reaching Gaza must increase to at least 350 trucks a day, Mr Austin and Mr Blinken said.

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Israel must also arrange additional military pauses to allow for humanitarian efforts and provide increased security for relevant sites, they added.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said: "The letter was simply meant to reiterate the sense of urgency we feel and the seriousness with which we feel it, about the need for an increase, a dramatic increase in humanitarian assistance."

(c) Sky News 2024: Israel resumes Beirut strikes as latest attacks on Lebanon kill mayor in southern town