US warns Israel not to repeat Gaza destruction in Lebanon

The United States urged its ally Israel to avoid Gaza-like military action in Lebanon, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it could face "destruction" like the Palestinian territory.

Israel's military chief, Herzi Halevi, vowed to keep bombing Hezbollah targets, a campaign that has killed more than 1,200 people since September 23, "without allowing them any respite or recovery".

The comments came after a phone call between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden, their first in seven weeks. The White House said Biden told Netanyahu to "minimise harm" to civilians in Lebanon, particularly in "densely populated areas of Beirut".

"There should be no kind of military action in Lebanon that looks anything like Gaza and leaves a result anything like Gaza," said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

Netanyahu said in a video address to the people of Lebanon on Tuesday: "You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza."

Rescuers search for survivors at a Civil Defence emergency centre hit by Israeli airstrike in Derdghaiya. AFP  

He added: "Free your country from Hezbollah so that this war can end."

'Deadly, precise' retaliation

Biden and Netanyahu's call had been expected to focus on Israel's response to last week's missile barrage by Iran.

Iran fired about 200 missiles at Israel in what it said was retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Most were intercepted by Israel or its allies.

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said: "Our attack on Iran will be deadly, precise and surprising. They will not understand what happened and how it happened."

Biden has cautioned Israel against attempting to target Iran's nuclear facilities, which would risk major retaliation, and opposes striking oil installations.

A Lebanese government source told AFP that Hezbollah had accepted a ceasefire with Israel on September 27, the day Israel killed Nasrallah.

Activists and relatives of Lebanon-based Filipino workers protest in Pasay, Philippines, on Thursday. Reuters  

But they said Israel's response had torpedoed the plan, backed by Washington and its allies, and the Lebanese government had "had no contact with Hezbollah" since his death.

Displaced in Beirut

Israeli police said at least six people were wounded Wednesday, some seriously, in a stabbing rampage in the central Israeli town of Hadera.

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli border police killed at least four Palestinians in the northern city of Nablus, Palestinian health authorities and Israeli security forces said.

In Beirut, many people are sleeping out in the streets after Israeli air strikes.

Ahmad, a 77-year-old who did not want to give his family name for fear of reprisals, said he had a message for Hezbollah.

"If you can't continue to fight, announce you are withdrawing and that you have lost. There is no shame in losing," he said.

But Raed Ayyash, a displaced man from the south of the country, said he hoped Hezbollah would keep fighting.

"We hope for victory, and we will never give up."

Agence France-Presse