Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday the strikes on Lebanon so far were "just the beginning" and warned that Lebanon will suffer increasing damage to its infrastructure, after the Israeli army targeted a bridge over the Litani river that it said Hezbollah had been using as a passageway for its fighters.

"This is just the beginning and the Lebanese government, and the State of Lebanon will pay an increasing price in damage to Lebanese national infrastructure used by Hezbollah terrorists due to terrorist activity and launches at the State of Israel," Katz said at a meeting with army top brass.

Eight people were killed Friday and nine wounded in a strike on Sidon's al-Fawwar, as Israel targeted motorbikes and a Hezbollah-affiliated health center in Safad al-Battikh, kfartebnit and Aiteet.

The Israeli army warned of a strike on a building in Abbasiyyeh-Tyre, and struck and shelled Teffahta, al-Henniyyeh, Qlayle, al-Majadel, Zebqine, Majdal Selem, Sojod, Kfarhamam, Kfarshouba, Rashayya al-Fakhar and Qabrikha in south Lebanon.

The Iranian Chargé d'Affaires in Lebanon, Tawfiq Samadi, appeared Friday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the summons of Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji.

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres said he had arrived in Beirut on Friday for a "solidarity" visit to Lebanon, where the Middle East war has claimed more than 687 lives since March 2.

Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir noted Thursday that "the Lebanese government is not imposing its authority" against Hezbollah and that his army "will do so.'

Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji on Thursday summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires in Lebanon, after the Lebanese government decided to protest a declaration by Iran's Revolutionary Guard about a joint operation with Hezbollah against Israel.

Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei thanked Tehran's allied armed groups across the region including in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen on Thursday.

"I also express my sincere gratitude to the fighters of the 'Resistance Front'," Khamenei said in a statement read by a news anchor on state television, referring to the Houthis in Yemen, Lebanon's Hezbollah as well as allied groups in Iraq.

Israeli strikes targeted Thursday several towns in south Lebanon including Haris, Kafra, Alma al-Shaab-Naqoura, Deir Ntar, Barish, Yater, Qantara, Qaaqaiyyet al-Jesser, Teffahta, Qana, al-Sultanieh, Taybeh, Qabrikha and Kfardounin.

In east Lebanon, Israeli strikes targeted Qsarnaba and Douris after warning residents to evacuate.

Five people were killed and seven were wounded, including children, in an Israeli attack in Aramoun, a town about 10 kilometers south of Beirut and outside of Hezbollah's traditional strongholds.

The strike hit an apartment in a residential area.

The Israeli military said Wednesday that it had launched a new wave of strikes on Hezbollah targets in the southern Beirut suburbs, vowing to act with "great force" in the area.

The military said it had begun a "large-scale wave of strikes" on Hezbollah infrastructure in Dahiyeh, the Lebanese capital's southern suburb, where the Iran-backed group holds sway.