The Israeli military on Friday said Hezbollah had fired around 70 rockets toward Israel since midnight, many of them from southern Lebanon.

"After midnight yesterday, around 70 rockets were launched towards the direction of Israel," military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told journalists, adding that "a lot of these launches were from southern Lebanon".

Hezbollah on Friday warned Israeli residents to evacuate areas within five kilometers of the border with Lebanon, a day after Israel told residents of Beirut's southern suburbs to flee.

In a message in Hebrew in the group's Telegram channels, Hezbollah told Israelis to evacuate all localities "located within 5 kilometers of the border".

At least 217 people have been killed and 798 wounded in Lebanon since the start of a new war between Israel and Hezbollah on Monday, Lebanon's health ministry announced Friday.

The previous toll from the ministry, published Thursday evening, was 123 dead and 683 wounded.

Israel struck the ancient city of Tyre on Friday, killing at least one person, in an area adjacent to a UNESCO World Heritage site, according to state media and AFP.

An AFP photographer at the scene witnessed rescue workers recovering at least one body and collecting what appeared to be scattered human remains on the ground, near the city's ancient hippodrome.

A French initiative was proposed overnight after which communication took place between Baabda and Ain el-Tineh, Al-Jadeed TV reported on Friday.

An Israeli strike on an office building in the southern city of Sidon killed five people and wounded seven, the Lebanese health ministry said Friday, as Israel presses attacks on Lebanon's south, east, and in Beirut's southern suburbs.

The strike targeted the tenth floor of an office building near two shelters for displaced people and a Lebanese Red Cross center, an AFP photographer said.

Fresh Israeli strikes on Friday battered Lebanon, where Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned "a humanitarian disaster is looming" due to mass displacement.

An Israeli strike on an office building in the southern city of Sidon killed five people and wounded seven, the Lebanese health ministry said, as Israel presses attacks on Lebanon's south, east, and in Beirut's southern suburbs.

The Israeli military on Friday said it had started a new "wave of strikes" on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a day after it ordered the evacuation of the area, home to hundreds of thousands of people, before launching a series of raids.

"The IDF is now striking Hezbollah infrastructure in the Dahieh area in Beirut," the military said.

Israel launched overnight into Friday air strikes on several towns in southern Lebanon.

"Enemy warplanes launched nighttime strikes on the towns of Srifa, Aita al-Shaab, Touline, Sawana and Majdal Selm," the National News Agency reported.

High-level diplomatic contacts are underway between Lebanese officials and influential countries in an attempt to contain the escalation and avert a widespread attack on Beirut's southern suburbs, An-Nahar newspaper reported late on Thursday.

According to the information, the efforts have intensified in recent hours amid growing fears of expanded strikes, and diplomatic activity aims to prevent a further deterioration of the situation on the ground.