Lebanon: Over 100 people killed by new Israeli air strikes

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes killed more than 100 people on Sunday, after Israel's military said it had kept up its bombardment of Hezbollah targets there and also struck Yemen.

The health ministry in a revised toll issued late Sunday put the total killed at 105 and 359 wounded.

The attacks come after an air strike on Beirut's densely populated southern suburbs on Friday killed Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon's Hezbollah group which has been engaged in cross-border fire with Israel for almost a year, in the backdrop of the war in Gaza.

After Israel turned its focus north from Gaza to Lebanon and cross-border fire escalated, Israeli attacks have killed more than 700 since last Monday, the deadliest day since Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.

Lebanon's health ministry said air raids near the main southern city of Sidon killed 32 people on Sunday, while at least 25 died in the east.

France's foreign ministry, without giving details, said Sunday a second French national had been killed in Lebanon, after a woman died after a south Lebanon blast on Monday.

The announcement came as French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived in Lebanon, making him the first high-level foreign diplomat to visit since the Israeli air strikes intensified.

Barrot spoke earlier with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and said Paris sought "an immediate halt" to Israeli strikes.

Fear of 'conflagration' 

France also appealed for Hezbollah and its backer Iran to abstain from any action that could lead to "regional conflagration".

Pope Francis, asked about Israeli air strikes on civilians, said a country "goes beyond morality" when defence is not proportional to the attack.

A source close to Hezbollah said Nasrallah's body was found on Saturday "and was placed in a shroud on Sunday after being washed".

Funeral details have not yet been arranged, the source said, requesting anonymity.

The Israeli military says it seek to downgrade Hezbollah's capacity to attack Israel, eliminate the group's military leadership and "clean" the border areas from fighters, according to an Israeli security official on Friday.

Israel's military said dozens of its warplanes attacked targets of Iran-backed Houthi rebels in war-ravaged Yemen on Sunday, including around Hodeida port, a key entry point for fuel and humanitarian aid.