President Joseph Aoun is leading intensive efforts with the Americans in an attempt to reach a ceasefire or de-escalation and to halt the Israeli advance, the al-Modon news portal reported on Sunday

An Israeli strike near a hospital in Tyre, south Lebanon wounded 13 staffers, the Lebanese health ministry said, as Israel pushes forward its offensive deeper into the country.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he ordered the Israeli army to deepen its deployment in Hezbollah strongholds north of the Litani River, noting that "soon Hezbollah will no longer have the ability to threaten northern Israel."

France has requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council after Israeli forces seized the medieval Beaufort castle in Lebanon, the French foreign minister said Sunday.

The Israeli army announced Sunday that one of its soldiers had been killed the previous day by a Hezbollah explosive drone in southern Lebanon, bringing to 25 the number of Israeli military deaths since early March.

The Israeli military warned Lebanese civilians living south of the Zahrani river to evacuate the region Sunday, warning that it was stepping up operations against Hezbollah.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has denounced what he called a dangerous Israeli escalation in the south, urging an immediate ceasefire and insisting that a "scorched-earth policy" would not ensure Israel's security.

In a televised address, Salam also defended his government's direct negotiations with Israel -- which Iran-backed Hezbollah opposes -- saying that the talks were the "least costly path" for Lebanon.

The Trump administration has extended protections shielding about 11,000 Lebanese from deportation, allowing them to stay and work in the United States for another six months.

The decision, announced Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security, marked a rare reprieve for people protected by temporary measures which have been harshly criticized by Republicans. The extension comes amid ongoing fighting in southern Lebanon between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters.

Fifteen children have been killed in Lebanon and 62 injured over the last seven days, the United Nations said Friday, despite the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanon is seeking an international force to replace a decades-long United Nations peacekeeping mission whose mandate ends this year following U.S. and Israeli pressure, even as the latest Israel-Hezbollah war continues.