Israel continues strikes in Lebanon, Gaza as Beirut awaits truce ideas

Israeli air strikes pounded Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs for a second consecutive day on Wednesday, as Lebanon waited to hear Washington's latest ceasefire proposals after a U.S. official expressed hope a truce could be reached.

More than seven weeks since Israel went on the offensive against Hezbollah, mid-morning air strikes leveled half a dozen buildings in the Beirut suburb known as Dahiyeh and killed eight people in Dawhit Aramoun, a village south of the capital. The dead included three women and three children, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.

"They used to hit Dahiyeh at night, now they are doing it in daytime. Things are intensifying day after day," Hassan Moussa, 40, told AFP, adding that Israeli air strikes had also widened to areas such as Aramoun.

The strikes also made Israel suffer one of the deadliest days of its ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon when six of its soldiers were killed in combat. 

Hezbollah said on Wednesday afternoon that it targeted the headquarters of the Israeli Defense Ministry for the first time since its current conflict with Israel began.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned a series of attacks on the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon in October and November, calling on all parties to respect the safety of the Blue Helmets.

"Peacekeepers must never be the target of an attack," the Security Council said in a statement.

In Gaza, at least 10 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday in Israeli bombing on a home and tents of displaced people west of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources told Xinhua.

At least 43,712 people have been killed in more than 13 months of conflict between Israel and Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

The UN Human Rights Office said last week nearly 70 percent of the fatalities it has verified in the Israel-Hamas conflict were women and children, and condemned what it called a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.

Israel said it categorically rejected the report. The Israeli military has said its actions are "in accordance with the principles of distinction and proportionality, and is preceded by a careful assessment of the potential for civilian harm."

It seems there will be a halt between fire exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah as White House envoy Amos Hochstein recently told Axios that he thought "there is a shot" at a truce in Lebanon soon. "I am hopeful we can get it."

His comments point to a last-ditch bid by the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to secure a Lebanon ceasefire as diplomacy to end the Gaza conflict appears adrift, with mediator Qatar having suspended its role.

The U.S. and other world powers say a ceasefire in Lebanon must be based on UN Security Council resolution 1701 which ended a war between the sides in 2006. The resolution demands that the areas of south Lebanon near the Israeli border be free of any weapons other than those of the Lebanese state.

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was quoted by the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper as saying that Lebanon was awaiting concrete ceasefire proposals and had not been informed officially of any new ideas.

However, new Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz recently said there would be no easing up in the conflict against Hezbollah.

(With input from agencies)