Hezbollah keeps up cross-border fire

Israel's military told residents of more than 20 towns in south Lebanon to evacuate immediately on Thursday, as fighting raged across the country, with Hezbollah and the Lebanese army saying they pushed back Israeli troops at several places.

The latest warnings took the number of southern towns subject to evacuation calls to 70 and included the provincial capital Nabatieh, suggesting another Israeli military operation was imminent against the Hezbollah targets.

Hezbollah carried out new strikes, targeting Israel's "Sakhnin base" for military industries in Haifa Bay on the Mediterranean coast of northern Israel with a salvo of rockets. Hezbollah said it repelled several land operations by Israeli troops, including with ambushes and in direct clashes.

Israel sent troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday after two weeks of intense airstrikes in a worsening conflict that has drawn in Iran and risks sucking in the United States. More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced and nearly 2,000 killed since the start of the Israeli attacks.

Lebanese security sources say Israeli troops have entered Lebanese territory but were pushed back several times in recent days. Rocket sirens wailed constantly in northern Israeli towns, sending residents running for shelter, as Hezbollah kept up its cross-border fire.

The Lebanese army said two soldiers were killed by Israeli strikes in separate incidents in south Lebanon on Thursday. The army said that it returned fire when a military post was struck. In Beirut's southern suburb known as Dahiye several explosions were heard on Thursday after heavy Israeli strikes.

Hezbollah said it detonated a bomb against Israeli forces infiltrating a southern Lebanese village and attacked Israeli forces near the border. Overnight, Israel bombed central Beirut in an attack the Lebanese health ministry said killed nine people.

Israel also said it struck a municipality building in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, killing 15 Hezbollah members and destroying many weapons. A Hezbollah-linked civil defence group said seven of its staff, including two medics, were killed in the Beirut attack.

Arab neutrality

Amid the ongoing conflict, Iran launched its largest ever assault on Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for Israel's assassination of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and its operations in Gaza and Lebanon. Tehran said its attack was over, barring further provocation, but Israel has promised to hit back.

On Thursday, Gulf Arab states sought to reassure Iran of their neutrality in the conflict in meetings in Doha this week, two sources told Reuters. Ministers from Gulf Arab states and Iran attending a meeting of Asian nations hosted by Qatar centred their conversations around de-escalation, the sources said.

Iran has not threatened to attack Gulf oil facilities but it has warned that if "Israel supporters" intervene directly their interests in the region would be targeted. "It's a tool the Iranians have against the US and the global economy," Ali Shihabi, a Saudi commentator close to the Royal Court, said.