Israeli air strikes reported in south Lebanon for third day; sirens sound in Tel Aviv

Israeli warplanes pounded villages in south Lebanon for a third day, Lebanese media reported Wednesday, while Israel said it intercepted a missile fired after sirens sounded early morning in Tel Aviv.

Lebanese officials said hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled their homes in the south this week to avoid fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli military.

Lebanon's official National News Agency said Israeli warplanes launched raids on multiple towns in the south from 5am (2am GMT), adding "casualties were reported" from other strikes overnight.

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The United Nations Security Council said it will hold an emergency meeting on the crisis in New York Wednesday, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the situation was critical.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced since the latest round of fighting began Monday, officials said, some crossing the border to Syria to flee Israeli bombing.

Thuraya Harb, a 41-year-old housewife at a makeshift centre for displaced families in Beirut, said her family fled "with nothing but the clothes on our backs".

"I didn't want to leave my home, but the children were scared," the mother of four said.

Hezbollah and Israel have been locked in near-daily exchanges of cross-border fire since October 7.

Lebanon said Israeli strikes killed at least 558 people on Monday – the deadliest day of violence in the country since its 1975-90 civil war.

Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said the "vast majority, if not all" of those killed were unarmed civilians in their homes.

Israel's military said Wednesday it intercepted a missile fired from Lebanon after sirens sounded in Tel Aviv.

"Following the sirens that sounded in the Tel Aviv and Netanya areas, one surface-to-surface missile was identified crossing from Lebanon and was intercepted," a military spokesman said.

Hezbollah claimed 18 attacks on Israel on Tuesday, while the Israeli military said Hezbollah fired about 300 rockets across the border.

Hezbollah also confirmed an Israeli claim that it had killed their rocket forces commander Ibrahim Kobeissi in the strike on the Lebanese capital.

Early Wednesday, a Lebanese security source said a new Israeli strike hit the Saadiyat area near Beirut, with a "warehouse" targeted.

At the UN General Assembly in New York, Secretary-General Guterres warned the situation in Lebanon was critical.

"We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink," he said, while cautioning against "the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza".

US President Joe Biden warned against a full-blown war in Lebanon in his speech during the New York gathering.

"Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," Biden said.

Lebanon's foreign minister, also at the UN assembly, said the number of displaced Lebanese had soared to nearly 500,000 since Israel ramped up its military campaign.

A security official in neighbouring Syria told AFP about 500 people had crossed the border to flee the bombing.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue the withering air campaign.